To Divide a Kingdom
by OneLeafTree
Summary: A deadly sickness has struck the kingdom and the only known cure lies at the hands of a foreign family. But what will be their bargaining price? Yuri must become the King that he was always meant to be, and Wolfram; a stranger to all. Difficult decisions and grave sacrifices must be made if the Demon Kingdom is to survive. Lots of drama. Warnings inside.
1. Chapter 1: Fading Hope (Re-written)

**To divide a kingdom**

 **Summary:** A deadly sickness has struck the kingdom and the only known cure lies at the hands of a foreign family. But what will be their bargaining price? Yuri must become the King that he was always meant to be, and Wolfram; a stranger to all. Difficult decisions and grave sacrifices must be made if the Demon Kingdom is to survive.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Kyo Kara Moah or any of it's characters. I am not doing this for money, nor am I making any.

A/N 1: + future warnings: light cursing, very angsty, highlights of humour, mild horror and goriness (nothing too scary), depression, unhealthy coping meachanisms, friendship, hurt and family love.

 **A/N 2: Mainly Wolfram-centric. OOC and angsty Wolfram.**

 **A/N 2: Yuri is 20 at the moment**

 **A/N 3: Greta is 14 at the moment, about to turn 15. I don't know when Greta's birthday is so I just made one up: March 18th.**

 **A/N 4: Slightly poetic sometimes, sorry I couldn't help myself =D**

 **A/N 5: A few years have passed since the anime, Wolfram has matured slightly but is still a brat sometimes, at the beginning at least. This will definitely change later on.**

* * *

 **A/N 6: Important, or you'll likely get confused: _Characters thoughts are in_ _italics_**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Fading hope**

It was the start of spring in the Great Demon Kingdom, the sun's appearance became more frequent and longer lasting, the snow from the year's winter had finally turned to water a week ago. The cold still lingered however, especially in the morning and at night, but it was quickly being replaced by the cool crisp spring time air.

With the King's adopted daughter's fifteenth birthday less than three weeks away, the castle and it's occupants had already begun making preparations. Chairs had to be repainted, floors polished, the guest rooms refurbished, cutlery re-coated with silver, and most of all Günter had to be kept under control.

Wolfram sat down on the semi-sun warmed granite stairs of the castle gardens taking a moment bask his face in pure unfiltered sunlight, something inside him craved the warmth. As if that could somehow lift his spirit, as if the sun's heat could somehow diminish the cold sensation that has settled within him months ago, even though winter had already passed, even though he was a great demon of fire, something in him left him feeling hard and cold.

"Hey Wolfram! Wolfram!"

Sighing Wolfram turned around, Yuuri was running towards him, unsurprisingly Conrad tailing not too far behind.

"Wolfram, there you are!" Yuuri ran up to him and rested his hands on his knees in effort to catch his breath.

"Wolf, I've been looking all over for you."

"Oh, you have?"

"Errr, yeah?"

"Why?" The blonde asked nonchalantly. _I'm waiting for you to say it._ Wolfram glared at him.

Yuuri looked at the blonde uncertainly for a moment before looking at his godfather who shrugged in response.

"What?" Wolfram finally snapped when his fiancé didn't say a thing but simply carried on staring at him.

"Sorry, nothing, I was just thinking. He smiled nervously. "Anyway lady Cäcilie has a tailor over right now, she wanted to take your measurements for a suit, you know...to wear for Greta's birthday ball."

"And you, the King, came all the way to tell me that." Wolfram drawled, pressing his lips into a thin line, he wanted to feel happy Yuuri had come down personally, but irritation building up wouldn't allow it. "We have messengers for delivering messages of this sort, it's unbefitting for a King to play messenger boy." _I know why you're really here, just apologize and get it over with already!_

"Well yeah I guess." Yuuri trailed off, offering a shy smile.

"Now, Wolfram, aren't you happy to see Yuuri? We have been looking for you for the past half an hour. No one seemed to know where you were." Conrad interjected a pleasant smile on his face. "We even considered assembling a search party."

"Don't be ridiculous Weller, and anyway, if you had just taken me with you into town this morning, you would have known where I was all along!" Wolfram replied hotly, looking straight at Yuuri, he squirmed slightly as if he had done something wrong. _You just had to say you were sorry and I would have let this go you wimp!_

"I didn't want to wake you." He paused thoughtfully, not looking at all sorry, "You were out patrolling late last night, you missed dinner, I didn't even hear you come to bed."

"You could have still asked if I wanted to go into town!"

"I didn't want to wake you." Yuuri repeated.

"And you took Greta. _Our_ daughter." Wolfram couldn't help but sound a little bitter, thinking about waking up alone and not knowing where his fiancé or daughter were. _It was bad enough finding out from one of those stupid gossiping maids. Something else for them to talk about._

"We went into town to pick out material to for Greta's dress; so of course I took Greta." Yuuri looked at Wolfram calmly as a patient parent would at a disobedient child, this seemed to annoy Wolfram even more. _He's being childish again and over nothing._ Yuuri resisted the urge to shake his head and sigh.

"So did you go to Mont's?" Wolfram asked trying not to look as annoyed as he felt.

"Yes, the same place we always go for special occasions." Yuuri tired steadily. _Maybe he's not going to blow._ "You should see the lace I bought for Greta's dress, it's imported all the way from Touvei Gala, the design on lace is-."

Uninterested, Wolfram rudely spoke over his King. "Did you flirt with the fabric dealer's wife? I've seen the way you look at her." _Why did I even bother asking him that?_ The word's left Wolfram's mouth before he even had a chance to catch himself, he narrowed his eyes accusingly, he knew he sounded silly, but now that the fire within him had been lit after so long, there was no dousing it. It wasn't the kind of fire that made you feel cozy, it was the kind you felt before your insides reached their boiling point, his veins felt like they were transporting lava.

Yuuri frowned, but before he could say anything Conrad stepped forward holding up his hands in a nullifying gesture. "I was with His Highness all along Wolfram, and I can assure there was no flirting."

"And I'm sure you know what flirting looks like Weller." He spat out.

"Yes Wolfram, I do." Conrad looked directly at Wolfram, unperturbed by the poisonous look shot his way.

"Really." Wolfram drawled. _He's smiling again, screw that Weller._

"I didn't know you had such a deep interest in my personal life dearest brother." He lifted his eyebrows comically before saying in a low voice, like he was about divulge in some exclusive secret. "I can tell you all about it."

"No thank you."

Yuuri smiled at Conrad, who smiled back at him. Wolfram seeing the two looked the other way unable to think of something to say that wouldn't make him sound like a complete imbecile or a brattish child. Just like that, the heat of the fire he felt in him momentarily was put out like pinching the wick of a candle. _I lost_. _You win Yuuri_. He resisted the urge to smile bitterly.

"Now why don't you and His Highness head to Greta's chambers, mother and the tailor should still be there now, it would be rude to keep her waiting."

"Yeah come on Wolf." Yuuri grabbed Wolfram's elbow pulling him the direction of Greta's room. "Conrad aren't you coming as well?"

"No thank Your Majesty, I don't need a new outfit, I will be in my uniform after all." Yuuri looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before laughing out loudly.

"You're just saying that because you don't want to be poked and prodded."

Conrad smiled ambiguously. "Perhaps."

"Well, fine I'll let you get away with it this time but I want to see you in frills for my birthday."

"We'll see Your Majesty." Conrad chuckled lightly.

"No, I mean it. I'll make it a royal decree if I have to."

"Then I will have no choice." He stated dramatically.

"Great!" Yuuri grinned. "Oh, and Conrad."

"Yes Your Majesty?"

"It's Yuuri. I'll make that a royal decree as well if I have to."

"Now that would be abusing your power."

"I'm the king." Yuuri smirked at him.

"Yes you are Your Majesty."

Yuuri lifted his eyebrows in warning.

"I mean Yuuri."

"Now that's what I want to hear!" Yuuri smiled waving Conrad off.

Standing beside Yuuri Wolfram observed the exchange with his fiancé and his brother. Perhaps a year ago he would have been seething with envy, and occasionally he still did feel a fire, but now all he felt was a cold rock in his throat. Wolfram looked at the back of Yuuri's head while he walked a step behind him and let himself be dragged by the elbow.

 _Honestly, I don't even care that you went into town without me. It just felt necessary to make a fuss, to make you apologize, to make everything look normal, to feel feel normal. This is the reaction I would have had maybe a year or two ago ago. I was angry, I know I was...I felt that heat, so why does it all feel so fake? I feel like I failed._

He shook his head not wanting to think anymore, and quickly yanked his arm free of Yuuri.

The other ignored the semi violent gesture and carried on talking about anything that came to mind, his little argument with Wolfram by the stairs already forgotten.

Wolfram ignored him and looked down at the floor openly showing disinterest in whatever Yuuri was saying. He felt like sulking.

"Wolfram! I asked you a question, are you even listening?" Yuuri waved his left hand in the other's face, irritating the blonde.

He was tempted to slap it away.

"Stop that! What do you want to ask me?"

"I said, have you picked out a present for Greta?"

Wolfram paused thoughtfully. "No, I have not."

"Well, aren't you going to?"

"Yes. Eventually." Wolfram eyed his fiancé out the corner of his eye.

"Hmmmm, okay then...Wolf, are you still mad that we didn't take you to town?"

"Why are you asking me now?"

"Well you seen annoyed…" Yuuri said carefully.

"I'm not annoyed, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Several things."

"Like what?"

"Can't I just think by myself for a moment without having to publicly announce everything." Wolfram snapped hotly.

Yuuri regarded him again before sighing. "Let's just hurry up and get to lady Cäcilie before the tailor leaves."

"The tailor wouldn't be allowed to just leave." Wolfram mumbled uncharacteristically.

If Yuuri heard him, he ignored it and increased his pace leaving Wolfram behind, Wolfram watched Yuuri's retreating back suddenly wishing he hadn't spoken. Sighing the blonde walked in silence.

 _He doesn't even try anymore._ Wolfram thought sullenly.

* * *

With the usual tailoring room currently being unavailable due to redecorating, Greta's personal bedroom had temporarily been turned into a dressing room for the tailoress.

"Oooh! When this dress is finished, you are going to look just like a doll!" Cäcilie squealed, running her hand over the large piece of square fabric. "This peachy colour is perfect for you, and the intricate patterns on this lace, I've never seen such a design, it's definitely foreign." She admired the garment, caressing it softly.

Greta laughed lightly, "You have Yuuri to thank for that, he picked it out and paid for it too."

"Well maybe I should let His Majesty pick the material for my dress as well."

"Well, admittedly Yuuri did have a little help from the fabric dealer's wife; Mrs Mont." Greta giggled. "She was wearing a dress with a low square neckline, it definitely showed off her ample bosoms, when she bent over to pick up a pin, Yuuri turned bright red." Greta laughed, but stopped when she saw the tailoress was struggling to take her measurements with her moving around so much.

"Well, you can't blame the young man, he's a healthy stallion." Cäcilie giggled, earning a small giggle from the Geta as well.

The tailoress tried her best not to laugh, it would be very inappropriate of her to laugh at her King. _At least I'll have something interesting to tell my sister. So the King likes big busted women, my mother will definitely get a cackle out of that._

At that very moment two small knocks were heard at the door.

"Come in! I'm decent!" Greta called out.

Yuuri entered smiling brightly as his eyes landed on Greta.

"All done my princess?"

"Yep. Err I mean yes Your Majesty." Greta curtsied at Yuuri.

"Not you as well Greta." Yuuro moaned dramatically, feigning annoyance.

Wolfram stepped a few seconds later, he looked at Greta and smiled pleasantly, "Greta, mother." He greeted.

"Wolfram! There you are, we looked everywhere for you when we got back."

"Sorry Greta." Wolfram wanted to wince at the fact Greta no longer called her papa.

 _How many years has it been since I last heard that word? I never knew such a small word could mean so much to me, she's growing up so fast, in a few years she'll look older than me_. Wolfram held the smile on his face despite suddenly feeling a numbing coldness growing at the center of his chest.

"Wolfie dear, look over here! Greta tells me His Majesty picked this out for you." Cäcilie held out a large folded piece of cloth, the whole piece looked completely dark blue from a distance, it was only close up that the painstakingly detailed embroidery done with an thin indigo thread became obvious.

Wolfram took the cloth from his mother's hands and examined it critically _. Without a doubt, this is Ursela's Blue._

Ursela's Blue; named after the daughter of the man who first successfully made the dye, it is one of the most expensive dyes in the whole kingdom; made by crushing a rare stone found only in very small quantities in a very limited number of mines throughout the kingdom.

 _This must have cost a fortune._

Wolfram sighed internally feeling like the cloth was a colossal waste of money. _Nothing the crown can't afford in these times of peace. But knowing Yuuri, this probably came from his personal vault rather than the royal vault._

"You really picked this out especially for me?" He asked plainly.

"Yeah sure did. Do you like it?" Yuuri asked cautiously.

"It's beautiful." Wolfram replied blankly, he resisted the urge to look away when Yuuri suddenly grinned at him.

"Wonderful!" Cäcilie beamed. "Now Wolf my dear why don't you let the tailoress take your measurements." She stepped forward and gave Wolfram a searching look. "Oh, my dear boy, how you've grown. You look more and more like me every day."

Cäcilie then wrapped one of her hands around Greta's arm leading them both towards the room's only exit. "Greta and I will go see if tea is ready."

The tailoress took that as her sign to move toward the former prince, taking a length of measuring string marked at regular intervals.

"We'll be in the garden Wolfram, come for tea okay?" Greta gave a small wave as she left the room with Yuuri following suit.

"Yuuri."

"Yes Wolf?"

"Aren't you going to be measured as well?"

"Oh, no Mrs Mont said she would design and make my outfit, that's very kind of her, don't you think?" Yuuri smiled warmly, "She and her husband are so grateful that we always buy our cotton and bed linens from them, she took my measurements and said they'd design and make my suit for free."

Wolfram frowned at this. _It's probably so they can gain more publicity_. "That makes you look cheap, if the town's people knew that their King was-" Yuuri cut him, much to Wolfram's displeasure.

"Of course I offered them money! He said quickly. "When they refused I offered them one of our stable horses to help Mr Mont drive his cart of dye down to the harbour so he wouldn't have to always ask his son." Yuuri said, eyeing the tailoress holding a piece of string from Wolfram's hip all the way to his ankle. The woman seemed to have suddenly tensed.

Yuuri suddenly felt a little guilty; feeling he may have offended the woman and made her uncomfortable. _I suppose it's rude to talk about me going to another tailor when she's the one that made my suit last year. I hope she doesn't think she did a bad job._

Yuuri made a mental note to offer the tailoress a bit of extra money. _On top of that, a King and his fiancé, accidental or not should avoid arguing publicly. Too often people seem to get the wrong idea.  
_

He was about say his goodbye's and make his exit when Wolfram interrupted.

"You offered a stable horse to the fabric dealer?" Wolfram sounded incredulous. "Our horses are specially bred for riding and combat, they aren't there to pull carts like common animals!"

Already feeling embarrassed and not wanting to cause a scene with Wolfram anymore, Yuuri tried not to appear vexed as he as he gave a fleeting glance to his accidental fiancé, "Wolfram we'll talk later." With that Yuuri curtly left the room after thanking the woman who was now holding a piece of string along the broad of Wolfram's back.

She curtsied as her King left. _So the rumours are true, my sister's going to want to hear this; the King and his fiancé really don't get along, Perhaps this whole engagement was a farce after all._ She mused. O _r maybe they just hit a rough patch, planning grand events must be stressful for everyone. And damn those Monts, they've enough good coming their way as it is._ She thought bitterly. _  
_

Suddenly feeling a pair of eyes on her the tailoress looked up.

"Are you done?" Wolfram asked the woman hotly, not at all hiding his impatience.

"Ah, I beg your pardon, no Your Excellency." She blushed at the attention and quickly got back to work, taking the last of her measurements and scribbling them down in her book which she kept in a large pocket in the front of her apron.

Wolfram eyed himself in the mirror. He had grown, and noticeably so over the past few years. His height had increased by a few inches and his shoulders were broader but his face was pretty much still remained the same, he'd also kept his hairstyle the same. But Yuuri on the other hand had grown considerably, his face had lost it's baby roundness, his eyes were more pointed, they had lost their innocent look about them, but still somehow managed to look kind and gentle. Yuuri was almost as tall as Conrad, and Greta was almost as tall as Wolfram is now.

 _In a few more years, it would be like some kind of a joke for her to even acknowledge me as her father, she was already more grown up than I am in so many ways. In another twenty years, she would most likely look old enough to be my mother minus the obvious phenotypic differences._

Then in another fifty years following that, when Wolfram would be equivalent to a human in his early thirties with a painfully long life ahead of him, Greta would most likely be dead. Even Yuuri would be old or already dead, although his demon blood means he'll age more slowly, Wolfram would likely outlive his fiancé provided that he didn't die in battle, illness or from some other unnatural cause.

Wolfram did something, he never thought he'd do; curse his demon blood. _Perhaps it's better that Greta has stopped calling me papa now._ Wolfram sighed internally vaguely conscious of the presence of the taolieress jotting down something in her crusty looking book. _Yuuri, if he really wanted to marry me he would have made this clear on his eighteenth birthday._

This is when a King, if he has not done so already on his sixteenth birthday declare his future plans to his people and subjects, that should have included when he would marry his fiancé.

 _God what an embarrassing affair that was._ Wolfram's hearted was pulled upwards with a dull ache.

Yuuri had not mentioned him even once during his King's speech. Wolfram had gotten drunk and slept in the nearest room which happened to be a guest bedroom. He was far too inebriated to walk back to or even find his own room.

Yuuri had gone to bed as if he had the best day of his life and woken up in an even cheerier mood. At breakfast he had mentioned only in passing how he noticed Wolfram had disappeared the previous night. Wolfram meanwhile had awoken to a raging headache and a lecture from an unsympathetic Gwendal who bellowed about how he had slept in the room that was intended for Lord Von Wincott. Thankfully, the Wincott ruler had not been offended at being relocated in the early hours of the morning after finding the blonde sprawled across what was meant to be his bed during his stay at the castle.

 _It's as though no one cares. I am a childish brat to them all, then again I suppose I have been on many occasions, I was an blinded fool to think Yuuri and I ever had a chance, what makes this all the more pathetic is that everyone else seemed to see it except me. It took me too long to face the facts, and by procrastinating confronting the obvious truth; I have made myself look like a dullard._

 _When was it I realised this?_ The blonde paused in his musing, but he didn't need to stop for too long before he arrived at his answer.

 _Yes, that's right it was right after Yuuri's nineteenth birthday, that's when I slowly started to let go, but in truth it was probably before that. I want to leave this pitiful struggle behind me, this hope I once had that you would somehow accept me as your significant other. I now know it can never happen. You feel nothing for me other than friendship._

 _Did you even try?_

 _Then again, I suppose I'm the biggest fool here once again, I'm the one that's not strong enough. I'm not strong enough to move on, even though you clearly have and continue to do so more every day._

 _Do you have any idea what it's like to walk around with people everywhere in the kingdom thinking you a desperate and jealous child whore?_

 _I know I haven't been graceful when it comes to expressing any kind of intense emotion when it comes to you Yuuri, but you've mercilessly stomped on my feelings countless times. Then again, I suppose it's unfair on you as well, especially if you never had feelings for me._ Wolfram admitted reluctantly, the thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. _This engagement must have been very inconvenient on you and I an embarrassment..._

Wolfram wanted to punch himself, he felt an angry fire within him rising. _But do you know what it's like to not be taken seriously by your own family? To have a family who see you still as a spoilt child, incapable of having any real problems._

 _To have a mother that openly encourages you to seek out others as love interests, knowing full well that I, her son am already engaged! And to the King nonetheless! How inappropriate of her to even suggest such a thing._ Wolfram grimaced _. All it's done is reinforce her image as a slut throughout the kingdom, even worse now that people have seen mother try pass her scandalous ways onto me._

 _I know she loves me, but why does she do this? Why must she be this way?_

 _Yuuri...do you know how it felt to open my heart to a human girl? Initially I it because of you...I accepted her and loved her as my own child, knowing she will be taken away from me piece by piece through age, marriage and finally death. I thought over the years that we could face that together._

 _It's been five years now, five years of engagement, five years of pretending, five years to let my insides slowly turn to ice, five years to hopelessly watch hope fade. Just how much longer is this going to go on?_

 _But deep down I know I can't blame you, you never wanted this engagement, yet I pursed you like small insect drawn to honey, when in reality I was a moth drawn to flame. The flame that will eventually turn me to ashes. I've been such a fool._

"Your Excellency, would your care for silver buttons or black buttons?"

Wolfram almost jumped, suddenly jarred from his thoughts, he felt self conscious. _Why is she looking at me like that?_

The woman watched him with an expectant smile.

 _Oh, right. I didn't answer her question._ "I don't care." He said quickly, trying not to look uneasy.

She nodded, scribbled something down then looked back at him. "The latest fashion in the Demon Kingdom is to have five small buttons along the side of your sleeves rather than the traditional three larger buttons. Which would you prefer? Five buttons or three buttons?" She asked in a sickly sweet voice, oblivious to turmoil of the man in front of her.

"I don't know." He replied numbly.

"I see...and how many layers of ruffles would you like on your sleeves sir?"

"I _really_ don't care."

He resisted the urge to sigh, instead narrowed her eyes at her as she wrote something down in her book.

"Will you have your sword at hand sir? If so I can have a belt made to match your suit."

"I don't know."

"Well just in case, I'll have one made anyway!" She said with forced cheerfulness."And just so I can alter the length of your trousers accordingly, will you be wearing high boots, mid heel boots or low heel?"

"How should I know?"

The tailoress eyed the fair haired boy cautiously, taking note of the irritation that had begun to leak into his voice.

"Double breasted or single?"

"I don't know."

Slowly she asked "Would you like your suit to have an open bodice, so you can wear a cravat sir, or would you prefer the design to have a stiff upper collar?"

"I don't care!" Wolfram finally screeched out, his chest heaved up and down. _Why the hell am I out of breath?_

After a moment he sighed, feeling he'd been too rude, he glanced at the wide-eyed woman who'd taken a few steps away from him.

"Just make it look good, you can do that much can't you?" He asked sharply.

"Yes of course! I'll do my best Your Excellency." She bowed quickly.

"Thank you." He said curtly and with that Wolfram left the room, not at all in the mood for tea. Even if the tea was scorching hot, it couldn't dislodge or melt jagged ice cube that had found home in his throat.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Wolfram asked himself absently rubbing at his throat, noting he also had a headache coming on. _I shouldn't have sat in the sun so long._

* * *

Yozak sighed as he eyed the tall brown door in front of him. He'd just got back from a grueling two hour horse ride and a five hour trek far into the Fisian woods, it was decided that on the edge of a lake in the desolate heart of the woods would be the meeting place between himself and a trusted kohi His Eminence had assigned him for this particular mission. Just over two weeks ago, Yozak had sent out three of his men alongside two healer's to a village on the very far edge of the Great Demon Kingdom to investigate the death of a man that somehow had managed to spike the interest of His Eminence.

Initially he had thought this to be noting important, but the report he received left his legs feeling like lead, and it wasn't just the long adrenaline driven journey back to castle that made him feel tired.

 _Well here goes nothing._ He knocked on the door once, before he could even touch the door a second time, it swung open.

"Come in."

"Lord Von Voltaire." Yozak greeted the other man, inclining his head downwards.

"Forget the formalities." He waved his hand dismissively, as he approached his desk. "Just give me your report Gurrier, what have you learnt?"

"It's as we feared, the odd rumours and His Eminence's concerns appear to have a solid body after all." The man paused briefly. "I have good reason to believe our mystery disease is one called a Widow's Cry, it's not indigenous to the Demon Kingdom, supposedly originating from a human country beyond the back walls of Big Cimanron."

"So it's come from one of the human countries, through imports perhaps?" Gwendal narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"To the best of my knowledge, this disease has been dormant for many thousands of years. But in all honesty, I would need to travel beyond Cimanron and conduct a formal investigation before I can say more with certainty." Yozak looked thoughtful. "It's not like we have ready access to countries beyond Cimaron, what we know about the origin of the disease is limited and Big Cimanron isn't exactly running to our aid."

"There is no need for Big Cimaron to know." _Even at times of peace, we cannot be made to look weak, that is simply inviting trouble._

"With respect Your Excellency, if this is as bad as I've been led to believe, everyone will know soon enough." He said seriously, the commander eyed him expectantly.

After allowing a fitting silence, Yozak started again. "So far the only accounts of infection I have received are at Jade Peak, a small fishing village by The Port of the Great East Sea."

"And, how can you be sure it's this Widow's Cry disease?"

"There is an old man who is a book collector and also a librarian, who not surprisingly has read many books from all over." The orange haired man said casually but cleared his voice to adopt a more serious tone when he saw his commander's expression. "He lives at Jade Peak, several months ago, one of his neighbours developed an illness that got progressively worsened eventually leading to his death. At the time, the people assumed he had the flu, fever, fatigue, and achy muscles was what had prompted the man to visit the local healer in the first place."

Gwendal motioned for him to continue, leaning back in his chair.

"But no amount of bed rest or even healing maryoku seemed to improve his condition."

"So he just died from the flu?" Said Gwendal trying not to sound hopeful. _Flu is better than some mystery disease._

"Well not directly anyway, the healer that treated him had said he died from a secondary bacterial infection; supposedly pneumonia as a result of the flu." Yozak stated. "If he had the flu, even basic healing maryoku should have been enough to stop the propagation of the virus and anitbiotics should have taken care of the pneumonia."

Gwedal looked at him, almost daring Yozak to continue, the orange haired man however looked unperturbed.

"As you are aware, we've come a long in medicine over the past hundred years, especially over the past ten years now that the war has ended. Whilst it does still happen in exceptional circumstances, dying from something such as pneumonia and common flu is practically unheard of." Yozak stated as a matter of factly. "For all intents and purposes, that man should have lived."

"Perhaps, the healer that treated him was incompetent." Gwendal offered.

"Perhaps, but I don't think that's the problem here."

"Say what it is you want to say already Gurrier, I'm running out of patience." Gewndal said with no real malice in his voice, but he could tell he wasn't going to like where this was going.

"Immediately following his death, it was decided that the man was to be cremated to reduce the chance of spreading infection. The deceased man's only remaining family was his younger sister, so his neighbour; the librarian had offered to dress the body in preparation for the burning." Yozak took a moment to think of the dead man's sister. _From the report I received, she would have been around Greta's age._ Yozak let out a heavy breath. _It's not going to be easy for her.  
_

"Continue."

"Whilst he was dressing the man, he noticed he had a small raised concave swelling on the epidermis above his left lung. He described it as being no more than two inches wide, and about a quarter of the swelling had a purple discolouration on top in the shape of a waning gibbous moon."

Gwendal stood up out his chair and turned around showing his back to Yozak resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. _I knew I wasn't going to like the sound of this_.

"The healer said he had thought it was a histamine induced angioedema in response to inflammation in his lungs caused by the secondary bacterial infection, and dismissed the purple discolouration as bruising. But the librarian wasn't convinced, he had thought he had read about something similar in relation to a old disease before and mentioned this in a letter to his grandson who happened to be one of Conra-, I mean Lord Weller's trainees here at the castle."

Gwendal started to pace the room.

"The was the first mention of Widow's Cry was in that letter." Yozak scratched his eyebrow thoughtfully. "I have no idea how His Eminence knew though." He paused shifting on his feet. _My ankles are sore, two hours of straight riding did my back no favours either._

"Anyway, moving on...I sent some of my birds to investigate as you asked on request of His Eminence and here I am with a report." Yozak said casually, trying to make light conversation before delivering the bad news to frowning man in front of him. _No use stalling Gurrier, you'll only end up being here longer._ He said to himself.

"Yes. Here you are." The grey haired man said dully. "Never mind about His Eminence for now. This book collector, or librarian, whatever he is; how can this man be sure that the ailment his neighbour had was Widow's Cry, what if it really was just a swelling and some bruising?"

"According to Karlyn Jaecar-"

"Who exactly is Karlyn Jaecar?" Gwendal asked the orange haired becoming increasingly impatient and troubled the more the man in front of him spoke.

"He is the grandson of the librarian, Lord Weller's trainee sir." Yozak said patiently. "His grandfather; the librarian read it in a book dating to be around two thousand years old. He had bought it from a sailor who stopped at the Jade Peak Harbour several decades ago when there weren't so many trade limitations between The Demon Kingdom and the free Human Countries. The book clearly mentioned a-"

"He read it in an ancient book?!" Gwendal did not look impressed.

That was the second time the orange haired man had been stopped mid-sentence, he wasn't impressed either. _Maybe I should try a different approach._ He thought before speaking again. "So far, from what the librarian has found out from the book and the description of the disease provided by our birds, it all appears to match up."

Gwendal's frowned deeply in light of this news either, his premature wrinkles became more prominent suddenly. "It is deadly." He said, it was more of a statement than a question.

"I'm afraid so sir, my spies confiscated the book from the librarian in the name of the King, the old man gave it up with some reluctance-"

"I don't care about that, just tell me what you have learned!"

"Yes it is deadly." Yozak said simply, subtly licking his lips before speaking again. "Once contracted the unlucky person usually has four to six weeks at most, at least that's what my spies have written from the intelligence they've gathered so far." Yozak said trying to keep the spite out of voice, whilst he respected his commander, he didn't take too kindly to being constantly cut off either. "The letters I received mention no cure."

"What about healing magic?"

"I explained the situation to Giesela she-."

"I said not to send Giesela!" Gwendal interrupted swinging around to face Yozak. "We need her here." He said more slowly.

"With respect Your Excellency, I did _not_ send Giesela." Yozak said in measured tones, noting that the grey haired man was getting close to tipping. Yozak could understand the man's anger was merely concern but this meeting would be so much easier if his commander just allowed him to say everything he had to say in one go. Then ask questions.

Yozak resisted the urge to blow hot air through his nose and flare his nostrils.

"Once I had explained the situation to Giesela, she recommended two of her most trusted healers, they accompanied our spies. Unfortunately they reported magic was ineffective at curing the disease, at best it helped to alleviate some of the more mild symptoms."

"Is that so…" Gwendal paced the room several times, and stopped suddenly, conscious of the other man's eyes trailing him. "I suppose this wasn't to be completely unexpected since you mentioned that the healer was unable to help the first man with maryoku."

"Yes sir."

"Just how bad is the infection at Jade Peak?"

"The village has a population of around eight hundred sir. But so far only fifteen of the reported accounts of disease appear to match Widow's Cry, this doesn't include the six deaths that have already occurred. My birds tell me that there is a general sense of fear among the populace there, although the people are not hysterical." He paused gravely. "Yet."

"And just how long will that last when people start dropping dead like flies?"

Yozak had seen a lot in his life but he still had to force himself not to wince at the image, suddenly reminded of all the littered bodies found in villages during the war. He shook his head as if to physically shake away those memories. "Whilst my birds cannot openly admit to being spies, Giesela's healers have taken upon themselves to go under the guise of traveling apprentice healers heading to the Capital to reunite with their teacher. The healers promised the Chief of Jade Peak Village that word will be passed onto King."

"That is risky business, I can think of a number of things wrong with what the healers have done, it may even make things worse in the long run."

Yozak frowned at this. _It's not as though we can simply ignore what is happening and leave them these people die._ "My spies wrote that the people were comforted to hear that despite being on the edge of the kingdom, the King will know of their troubles." Yozak allowed himself a small smile. "It's fair to say that most of the kingdom know of our benevolent King's kindness."

Gwendal didn't visibly look any less relived, his shoulders still tense and square.

"In other news, word of this strange disease has already spread to Houloie; it's the next nearest village to Jade Peak."

"What's the situation there?"

"My men report that the people are concerned. Naturally." Yozak exhaled loudly. "They were reluctant to let my birds pass through their village even when they showed them the royal seal."

"It's understandable." Gwendal almost growled. "They are reluctant to let anyone from Jade Peak into their village out of fear of contracting the disease themselves." He man said, stealing the words from Yozak's mouth.

"Yes sir."

Gwendal frowned turning away from Yozak to look out the window of his office. "Your spies, the ones that journeyed to Jade Peak, _have they_ become infected?"

"I received message via kohi, so far none of them have been infected."

"What if one of your spies has already contracted the disease and it is lying dormant?" Gwendal rubbed his forehead with his back to Yozak.

"I doubt that sir, the disease is said to be fast acting, once infected according to the reports; it disables the body in a matter of days."

"With flu like symptoms?"

"Initially yes but not necessarily leading to a similar death as the first man. According to the observations made by Giesela's healers on the few cases they've had the opportunity to observe, and the knowledge they've acquired from the librarian's book; the Widow's Cry starts off like a common cold preceding a high fever." Yozak sighed again, not caring if the other man heard him.

"This may be followed by any of the following symptoms; delirium, patchy rashes over the abdomen, yellowing of the scelera, vomiting blood and fluid filled swellings of the feet and lungs. The book goes onto to state that-"

"That darn book again!" The green glad man banged his fists against his desk.

Ignoring the disturbed man, Yozak took a deep breath before he carried on. _What a tiresome job this is, this whole report would go much faster if only I were allowed to complete my sentences!  
_

"As I was saying sir, some other symptoms that are mentioned in the book have not been reported. The book points to more than one cause of death, either directly or indirectly resulting from the disease. Death can occur from dehydration through vomiting to drowning from fluid filled lungs, men castrating themselves because of fluid filled…er genitals and even suicide among others. The purple coloured swelling appears to be notable in this disease, but of course if the swelling is inside say the lungs rather than on the surface of the organ as it was the case with the first man, we would not be able to distinguish the disease from that one that symptom alone."

"So is there any way to determine if someone has a simple cold and bruise from falling off a tree or the beginnings of Widow's Cry?"

Under different circumstances Yozak might have offered a smile to the commander for his rather imaginative scenario, but his lips refused to be tugged upwards.

"Giesela's healers spoke with the librarian, according to his book, there is a simple test to determine if a person had become afflicted with Widow's Cry."

Gwendal looked at the other man expectantly.

 _Is he holding his breath?_ Yozak wondered noting the stony silence in the room. "Supposedly the way to see if a person has Willow's cry is to take a piece of rice paper and soak it in concentrated Vollny's extract, once this has dried, some kind of yellow medicinal dye..." Yozak rubbed at his neck thoughtfully. "I cannot remember what it was called, but this dye is also added to the rice paper till saturation. Once completely dry, adding a drop of a suspect's blood should turn the yellow dyed paper into a bright orange colour if the person has Widow's Cry."

"Sounds rather primitive." Gwendal rubbed his chin with a meaningful look on his face. "How can we be sure this method is reliable?"

"Our spies and unaffected villagers all revealed negative results, but when the healers tested this on those suspected of having Widow's Cry, the orange bloomed."

"I see." Gwendal sat down heavily on his chair. "We cannot afford to have any of the infected entering the capital." Gwendal said gravely, the man had to say no more, Yozak knew what the consequences would be if one of his spies or the healers were to become infected, for this reason, he chose his spies carefully, his watchful birds knowing full of the risks involved when they set off to investigate Jade peak.

Although it went without saying, Yozak had made them aware of what would need to be done if they found Jade Peak under some sort of deadly epidemic. _Though at the time, I don't think anyone could have guessed how serious this was going to be, it was just one man that had died from some unknown illness, just one!_ He thought frustrated, gritting his teeth remembering how nonchalantly he'd sent his men off.

"How long before your men return to the capital from Jade Peak?"

"According to the report, they left a two days ago." Yozak pursed his lips in thought. "Theoretically it should take them about two weeks to return, but I suspect it'll take them longer. This year's winter snow hit the East pretty hard."

"I heard." Gwendal said sitting down on his chair heavily. "Lady Von Rochefort has sent several letters of complaint, with part of the East falling in her territory, she had to donate extra food supplies and blankets to the villages in that area."

A rare sight to behold, a small smirk graced the Voltairian land ruler's face. "She demands the Crown pay her 35% in gold based on the monetary value of what she had to give away."

"And, may I be so bold as to ask if the Crown is going to pay up." Yozak asked, noting the light conversation was out of place but he welcomed it nonetheless.

"What do you think?"

"No." Yozak said smugly.

"If you cannot serve your people when they are in need, you should not rule." Gwendal said firmly, all traces of humour now gone.

"I couldn't agree more." After a pause, Yozak added, "From what I've heard Lady Rochefort has a bit of a reputation for being...an ambitious woman, and especially determined when it comes to money. This might be problem that may not drown in the mud so easily sir."

"It isn't an issue, I will simply have to remind Lady Rochefort of how the Royal Vault Masters pay all the noble houses an unnecessarily large amount of money every month in aid to care for their territorial villages."

"A handsome amount I take it."

"Five times more than what you earn in a year."

"Ouch, life is unfair. That much every month huh?" Yozak cocked his head to the side and added rather cheekily; "So, I take it you also get paid an unnecessarily large amount of money every month as well." He raised his eyebrows teasingly.

"Not nearly as much as some of the other houses."Gwendal frowned. "Now getting back to what you were saying."

"Right, the snow and ice have melted and caused minor floods and slushy roads, the horses won't be able to travel with ease in those conditions."

"So how long _exactly_ do you think our spies and the healers will take to return?"

Yozak resisted the urge to roll his eyes; feeling the conversation becoming repetitive."Even if the spies and healers were to ride fast and straight with minimal rest, they would still need to stop periodically to allow the horses to rest, and as I mentioned the condition of the roads aren't helping. I would say anywhere between sixteen to eighteen days."

"Send out a message, I want them to routinely check to see if they have become afflicted, especially before entering any villages. Inform the healers to check themselves as well if they have not done already. In fact, I think it would be better if your spies were to not sleep overnight in any of the villages." Yozak frowned at this.

"Send two people to gather any necessary supplies from the villages but they are to camp out away from the the villages. If it can be helped, ask them to avoid passing through as many villages as possible." _That should help limit their exposure to outsiders._

"Isn't that being a little over cautious sir?"

"There is no such thing."

"Well, ultimately they will pass through at least four villages; there are some other possible routes, but this could increase their journey time by a few more days. But, to come to Blood Pledge Castle...well there's no way around the Capital, they'll have to pass through. What would be the point in this measure if-"

"It minimizes contact." The grey haired man interrupted.

"They tested themselves after leaving Jade Peak, it's unlikely our people would spontaneously develop Widow's Cry." Yozak tried to reason; not at all pleased that his men will not be allowed to sleep in a bed at night and after all they have done. He wanted to say that this was not fair, but even Yozak knew the commander had a point. _Still, my men and the healers risked their lives to go investigate a potentially deadly disease, they deserve better._

"This is a safety net. All we have is fossil of book and pieces of chemically treated paper to rely on, I do not want to take any chances." He looked darkly at the man in front of him. "Do not question me further on this."

Yozak nodded in compliance knowing he will get nowhere.

"Now will you inform the healers and your men of this arrangement?"

" I will do so sir." Yozak paused, "There's one more thing Your Excellency."

"Yes?" He practically hissed.

 _Geez commander, ever heard of don't shoot the messenger._

"It's about the book, the reason why we've had to rely on the librarian so much is because the book is written in an ancient human language and-"

"Well of course it is!" Gwendal bellowed sarcastically, in a manner very unbecoming of him.

 _The coin sure flipped quickly._ "What's more sir…the librarian is too frail to travel."

"So we have a deadly disease, no known cure and the only clue is in a book that's in a Shinou forsaken language!"

"In short. Yes. My spies wrote a down a few of the symbols and sent them to me via the kohi." Yozak looked at the green glad man knowingly, "I think I understand why His Eminence insisted we utlize the help of the Kotsuhizoku. "

Yozak continued "We don't know whether this disease can affect pigeons or other animals for that matter." Yozak said calmly.

Gwendal nodded in approval.

"I will find His Eminence and ask if he is familiar with the language."

Yozak looked at the man in front of him regretfully. "There's more, with his frequent visits to his neighbour, the librarian has also contracted the disease."

Initially the Commander said nothing. "How long does he have left?" He finally asked tiredly.

"The man will likely die in a matter of days from now or if he is lucky; he may have one more week." Yozak carried on in a slightly more sympathetic voice. "He is at an advanced stage, likely accelerated by his old age. The report said he was bedridden with violent tremors by the time our men were leaving. We have a lot to be grateful to him for, if it wasn't for him and his book...and the translations he's provided..." Yozak trailed off, knowing he didn't need to say anymore.

"Does his grandson know?"

"I imagine so Your Excellency."

"Does he have any other family?"

"The librarian had a son, he died in the war."

Gwendal sighed audibly, something he rarely did in the presence of company. "I will see to it that this Jaecar is taken care of. I will not however allow this young man to return to Jade Peak."

Yozak nodded solemnly in understanding, all the while feeling bad for the young man and for his grandfather. _He's going to die alone, away from his only family_.

"That reminds me, the girl." Gwendal stated.

Yozak raised his eyebrow, not sure what his commander was referring to.

"You mentioned that the first man to become infected had a sister, has she become infected?"

Understanding lit Yozak's face, "Ahh, no she was not mentioned in the report I received."

Gwendal narrowed his eyes, "I thought you said that this disease was contagious."

Yozak scratched his face thoughtfully, noting the he needed to shave. "That's the strange thing, not everyone that has come into contact with an afflicted person has become infected. The report mentioned that the healer that looked at the first man was still up and around trying to help as many people as he could."

"You're saying that this disease is someone selective in who it infects?"

"That's what the report suggests sir."

"I see."

"We'll know more when the next kohi arrives with a report from my men."

Gwendal lowered his eyes and simply nodded.

"There is some good news."

At this the green uniform clad Commander raised an eyebrow cautiously. "We believe that the disease is transmitted through contact with body fluids."

"Body fluids? And this is good news how?" He asked the spy.

"All the reported cases from Jade Peak are from the same area, and whilst not everyone who has come into contact with an afflicted person has become infected, those that have contracted Widow's Cry still appear to have come into contact with someone who is infected at some point." _Well that was a mouthful, I wonder if the commander got that?_ Yozak looked over at the man on the other end of the room, he simply frowned back at him.

"We have two cases where half the individuals in the two family's are infected, but the other half perfectly healthy. The reason why this is significant is because the villagers all share a communal fresh water source, shop at the same market place, worship at the same temple …I could go on, but in short Giesela's healers are quite certain that the mode of transmission has to be through the body fluids from the afflicted, otherwise a lot more people would have become infected if it was something in the water or airborne for example."

"Do the villagers know?"

"The Jade Peak Chief has been informed, he should have made a public announcement by now and made arrangements to section off the contaminated areas."

 _That is reassuring to some extent, it also makes it more unlikely that the Kohi that bought the report had somehow carried the disease on it..._ Gwendal gave the man in front of him a calculating look _...And passed it on to Yozak._

Yozak, oblivious to other's thoughts light up suddenly remembering something. "Oh, and the leader of the Houloie village has also been informed so he can both warn and reassure his people. This has somewhat helped lessen the tension in and between the two villages, but until there's a cure; I'm afraid this is as good as it's going to get." _Maybe I should have gone to my room, showered and shaved, and written a nice long report for the good commander to read._

Changing the topic completely, the older man suddenly said; "In the event your spies or the healers were to become infected…" He looked at the man poignantly, expecting him to pick off where he left off without him actually needing to say it.

"I'm sure they will sir." Yozak said knowingly. "They are more than willing to lay down their lives." Yozak said, trying not to sound offended at the implication that Lord Von Voltaire did not trust his men. "In the event _all_ my spies including the healers were to become infected, they have been instructed to move to an unpopulated area, remain there and send a message back to the castle informing us of their situation."

The orange haired man paused, lowering his voice but looking at the other straight in the eye "I would then personally ride out, find them and kill them if they have not already succumbed to the disease. I will then burn their bodies till there is nothing left but their ashes."

After a careful consideration Yozak added "Burning, the healers including the librarian believe that burning is the surest way to prevent the spread of disease from the corpses."

"And your spies and the healers, they were fully aware of this; that they may very well have to burn their comrades or themselves?"

"Of course!" Yozak raised his voice, unable to hold back his anger this time. _These men have put their lives on the line and you doubt them!_

Gwendal narrowed his eyes at the other man, "I am merely weary of the fact these men may have a change of heart."

"With respect sir, I served beside these men in the war, they are loyal. They would never abandon their pride in the face of duty, they know how important this assignment is."

"You trust these people?"

"Yes."

"Then that's good enough for me." _People change in face of death._ But Gwendal kept his thoughts to himself and pushed them to the back of his mind. _I hope your trust in them is well placed Yozak._

"And the healers that accompanied them, will they let themselves be burnt if they become infected?"

"Giesela trusts them." Gwendal eyed the orange haired man solemnly before offering him a gentle slow. "Keep what you have learned to yourself for now."

"As I mentioned the disease has not spread to Houloie." Yozak looked at the grey haired man with a serious expression. "Jade Peak trades fish from the East Sea for fruits from the Houloien forest. The people of Houloie are afraid to let anyone from Jade Peak in, but there may be a few ignorant and desperate enough to try and proceed with trading."

Seeing he had his commander's undivided attention he carried on. "If I may, I recommend some kind of official action be taken to stop any trade. Fortunately for us, my birds tell me that the roads are too muddy for horses to pull large produce carts and all pathways have been temporarily closed."

"Any idea as it how long it will remain this way?"

"A week at most should be enough to dry up the ground and firm up the mud enough for small horse drawn carts."

"If I introduce a blockade, the people of Jade Peak will feel isolated." _They will lose faith and feel forsaken._ _But what choice do I have? His Majesty will not like this._ Gwendal thought grimly.

"You have to be cruel sometimes sir, I don't want these people to suffer any more than you do." Taking a deep breath he carried on. "But we have no cure, the best we can do is contain the situation and prevent it's spread."

"I agree, I will inform His Majesty tomorrow. Then we can discuss an action plan." After a moment of pondering he added "I will however issue a royal decree with His Majesty's permission; temporarily forbidding the trade of goods between Jade Peak and any other villages or traveling merchants until we have a full guarantee that their trading goods have not become contaminated." _Even if this disease does spread through bodily fluids, it can easily spread onto food; all we need is for someone who has just become infected to sneeze on a dead fish...if that gets passed onto Houloie, Widow's Cry may potentially spread._ Gwendal propped his elbows on the table feeling himself become dizzy from thoughts of all the possible way the disease could spread. _The port will have to be closed as well, incoming ships suspended._

"Gisela should be back by sundown today from her herb gathering trip, I will inform her of what you have told me as soon as she is here." Gwendal stood grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill from one of the draws in his desk. "I would like for you to be checked out by Gisela by the method you described using rice paper and Vollny's extract and so on, till then you will stay in your room and make no attempt to contact anyone in the castle. You must understand I cannot-

"I do understand." Yozak interrupted him for the first, and he _did_ understand, he expected nothing less than extreme caution from the commander. After all the interruptions he had to endure whilst presenting his report, the scowl directed at him from his commander felt like sugar in his mouth. _Now you know how I feel, it isn't nice is it?_ Yozak thought rather childishly.

"You mentioned your spies wrote down a few symbols from the book for His Eminence to have a look at, leave it here with me."

"Yes sir."

"When is the next report due?" Gwendal asked the man almost looking disgusted, as of he really didn't want to know.

"Just over a week from now, it'll be a progress update."

"Report to me as soon as you hear any news."

"We're done here." He sat at his desk expecting Yozak to leave, when the said man didn't he looked up.

"Your Excellency, this devil disease may be old and unheard of in the Demon Kingdom until now, but there may be those that know of it. Not to mention the symptoms aren't exactly desirable either."

"What are you saying?"

"Word will spread like wildfire throughout the entire Kingdom and if some kind of action is not taken, the people will panic."

"I know." Lord Von Voltaire said gravely. "Now go, I must prepare my report to His Majesty." Just as the man reached the door, Lord Von Voltaire turned to him and said lightly; "Good work Yozak, go take a shower."

Yozak smirked, "Well you trying riding for two hours straight, then tracking through a godforsaken wood that's trying to kill you at every turn. You don't exactly come out smelling like a gardenia."

"I have." Gwendal stated simply.

"Did you smell like a greasy horse's ass?"

Gwendal said nothing.

* * *

 **And there you have it folks! I hope you liked that, there so much I want to do with this story I need to just sit down and think to try and get my ideas in order.**

 **I set things into motion with this chapter and I already have the next chapter written but I just need to tidy things up a bit. There'll be more Wolfam and Yuuri in the following chapters, that lengthy conversation between Gwendal and Yozak was necessary.**

 **By the way, Touvei Gala, Ursela's Blue, Widow's Cry disease, Vollny's extract whatever these thing's are; I'm sure you guessed right: yep they are made up!**

 **WARNING: PLEASE excuse any bad grammar, missing words or punctuation; I only have the heart to read through this so many times before I just don't want to anymore.**

 **Let me know what you think. Xx**

 **Have a lovely day (or night).**


	2. Chapter 2: The struggle to move on (R-W)

**THIS CHAPTER ALONG WITH CHAPTER 1 WAS RE-WRITTEN ON THE 28.08.16, PLEASE READ AGAIN IF READ BEFORE THIS DATE. Thank you =)**

 **Summary:** A deadly sickness has struck the kingdom and the only known cure lies at the hands of a foreign family. But what will be their bargaining price? Yuri must become the King that he was always meant to be, and Wolfram; a stranger to all. Difficult decisions and grave sacrifices must be made if the Demon Kingdom is to survive.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Kyo Kara Moah or any of it's characters. I am not doing this for money, nor am I making any.

 **A/N 1: + future warnings: light cursing, very angsty, highlights of humour, mild horror and goriness (nothing too scary), depression, unhealthy coping meachanisms, friendship, hurt and family love.**

 **A/N 2: Mainly Wolfram-centric. OOC and angsty Wolfram.**

 **A/N 2: Yuri is 20 at the moment**

 **A/N 3: Greta is 14 at the moment, about to turn 15. I don't know when Greta's birthday is so I just made one up: March 18th.**

 **A/N 4: Slightly poetic sometimes, sorry I couldn't help myself =D**

 **A/N 5: A few years have passed since the anime, Wolfram has matured slightly but is still a brat sometimes, at the beginning at least. This will definitely change later on.**

* * *

 **A/N 6: Important, or you'll likely get confused:** _ **Characters thoughts are in**_ ** _italics_**

* * *

 **A/N 7: Just before I begin, I would like to thank** **kkmbigfan1, BatShitCrazy21, rini, Guest and bobbyneko for being my first reviewers! I appreciate you all taking the time to comment and all those that Followed and Favourited this story. Thank you guys!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The struggle to move on**

Dinner time that evening could be described as a chatty affair, from the second the starter was served to the moment desert was bought out, Lady Cäcilie had been talking about all the 'interesting people' she'd met during her recent travels. Lady Anissina commented occasionally, Gwendal had a frown fixed to his face from the moment he walked through the doors, Günter had tried several times to change the topic of conversation but was unsuccessful and now simply listened to Lady Cäcilie's antics with a look of mild distaste. Conrad ate with a polite yet tight smile, he carried on smiling even when he was chewing his food; a look people only close to him could interpret as discomfort. Lady Cäcilie, though not oblivious to the atmosphere around her, the King's nervous laughs, Greta's awe and Wolfram's lack of outburst carried on as though she'd caught a case of verbal diarrhoea.

Greta waited patiently, she waited for an appropriate moment to put out a question or rather a statement. When Lady Cäcilie stopped talking for a few seconds to savour a piece of vanilla cream tart in her mouth; another one of Effe's delicious inventions, Greta took her chance. "So Wolfram."

She waited for her other father to look up at her. "I thought you were going to join us for tea...but you didn't come, we had your favourite; yellow strawberries and lavender essence curd."

The brown haired girl smiled lightly at her father to make her statement seem not so confrontational.

"Oh yes Wolfie, you should have come. We missed you dear."

Wolfram looked at his mother and fought hard to keep a hurt look off his face. _I doubt that mother, if you really wanted me to be there you could have sent someone to look for me. And, if you had missed me so much you could have tried talking to me now instead of running your mouth about every man you screwed with over the last few months._

"Wolfram, I asked you a question _."_ This time it was Yuuri that had spoken.

"What?" _I don't recall him even speaking.  
_

"I _said_ , how come you didn't have tea with Greta and Lady Cäcilie?"

Looking back at Greta, Wolfram spoke. "I'm sorry Greta, I had a headache." He smiled at her amicably, "I promise I'll make it up to you later."

The brown haired princess didn't look convinced. "Are you mad that we went to town without you?"

 _Not you as well._ Wolfram wanted to sigh in exasperation but didn't seeing as how all eyes around were on him now. _What do they all want me to say?_ Gwendal grit his teeth and Wolfram couldn't help but mentally leer at the gesture. _He's expecting a tantrum, well screw that._

"No Greta, I'm not mad." He smiled at the girl who still looked uncertain. "I'll tell you what, if Lady Anissina excuses you from your studies tomorrow, why don't we have a picnic?"

"Really? You mean it?!" The girl beamed him, and Wolfram felt his heart warm up again, she may be getting older, but at times like this; she's just his adorable little girl.

"Am I invited as well?" Yuuri asked pleasantly, looking directly at Wolfram.

"Yes." Wolfram offered a small re-conciliatory smile. "You are the King and Greta's father." He said as a matter of fact.

"Of course, we wouldn't dream of going without you!" Greta called out in Yuuri's direction.

Wolfram couldn't help but feel a little hurt at her words. _Yet you're willing to leave me behind, just as you did this morning._ When Greta looked at him with a small shy smile, Wolfram instantly regretted his reproachful musings and sighed inwardly. _I'm sorry Greta, I know you meant nothing by that._

"Wolfram! Where should we have our picnic?" _Again with the Wolfram, and not papa._

"I don't know, where would you like to have it?"

"May I suggest a spot?" Conrad spoke for the first time since entering the room. "There are a couple of hills outside the capital, when you look down from them you can see a special species of flower, the place is also surrounded by thousands of butterflies that rest up in the trees at the base of the hills, it's quite a sight."

"You mean the Butterfly Chase?" Cäcilie asked.

Wolfram already knew the answer to his mother's question. _I remember that place, I remember going there with Conrad and mother, when I looked down from the hill top at the flowers below; they were shiny and they sparkled under the sun like stars, and there were so many butterflies especially on the trees. I wanted to hold them in my hands and stroke their wings but little big broth- Conrad said if I did that I might break their wings, so instead he sat me on his shoulders and let me get as close as possible to the trees till I was completely surrounded by butterflies._

"Yes that's the place mother." Conrad replied. "The flowers below have yet to bloom." The brown haired man looked at the youngest member. "These particular flowers found at the Butterfly Chase only bloom once every four years. What makes the young buds of the flowers so special is that they have a thin transparent gelatinous substance on the surface."

"Gelatinous substance? You mean like a slimy goo?" Yuuri asked.

"Well that's one way to put it." Conrad laughed lightly when Yuuri pulled a slightly disgusted face. "The gel like substance is completely transparent and coats the surface of the bud, it keeps the inside hydrated and prevents insects from spoiling the bud before it has had a chance to bloom, when the sun's rays hit buds, the whole field below lights up."

"The field just lights up?" Greta inquired.

"Yes, you see the gel like substance; the mucilage covering reflects light off in all different directions." Anissinna explained. "They sort resemble lots of small diamonds under a bright light source." Anisinna eye's suddenly beamed with excitement. "It would the perfect place to test out my latest invention; Mr-Brighter-Than-A-Thousand-Suns-kun" She glanced over at who Gwendal attempted to make himself look busy by hurriedly stuffing pudding into his mouth, doing everything he could to avoid the woman's penetrating gaze.

"Oh I get." Greta smiled. "Wow I'd love to see that."

Anissina nodded. "There are hundreds of these flowers there, the flower itself if called Sun's Envy; the field below turns into a light work display with the beams of light scattering in every direction."

"Oh, that place is beautiful! I used to take Connie and Wolfie there when they were little." Cäcilie added with a dreamy look on her face. "I also took a gentlemen there once-"

"Yes, thank you mother." Gwendal finally spoke cutting his mother off before she could say anymore, she pouted at him and was promptly ignored. "When Your Majesty returns tomorrow we shall have a meeting in my office after dinner." Suddenly the pudding he was enjoying felt too thick and heavy in his mouth. _I am not looking forward it._

"A meeting?"

"Yes, there are several things that we must discuss."

Before Yuuri could enquire any further, Günter interjected. "But Your Majesty! What about your studies?!"

"I'm sure His Majesty could easily catch up on a day's work." Anissina spoke. "The Sun's Envy flowers only bloom once every four years and anyway a King should visit a protected site to reassure his people that he has not forgotten about the treasured areas in The Great Demon Kingdom."

"A protected site?" Yuuri asked.

"I agree, after all the King does pay for it to stay protected." Gwendal added, hoping to fend of the headache he knew he would inevitably have after tomorrow's meeting. _It will give me more time to prepare, I must also speak with His Eminence who seems to have all to conveniently disappeared again._

"I do?"

Already having forgotten his earlier complaint, Günter decided to enlighten his beloved King. "You see Your Majesty, the goo that you mentioned earlier has pleasant smell which attracts butterflies, there is a species of butterfly called Shinou's Lesser Red Cape that lay eggs on top of the buds." Günter stopped speaking for a moment to make sure he had the King's attention, noticing Yuuri looking at him with interest he let out a small squeal of joy. "When the eggs hatch, the gelatinous nectar which is rich in polysaccharides and can easily be broken down into glucose provide the emerging caterpillar with a ready source food."

"Ah huh." Was all Yuuri said.

"For centuries demons have also used the sticky coating on the buds in perfume making by dissolving it in odourless alcohol." Cäcilie added, "Why, one of my favourite perfumes is made from the jelly of the Sun's Envy buds." She smiled in Conrad's direction. "A gift from your father."

"Sounds, interesting." Yuuri gulped, remembering his encounter with the former Queen in the bathing suit. _Note to self, never buy Sun's Envy perfume, Shinou knows what it will do to you. Is it even meant for men?  
_

"It's also used for various other practical purposes; if heated to extremely high temperatures, allowed to cool slowly and a highly concentrated solution of rock salt added to draw out the water out from the gel by osmosis; you get a very resilient adhesive which with further treatment by- "

Before Günter could say anymore Gwendal cut him off, wishing to leave the dining room as soon as possible. "What Lord Von Christ is saying is; the extracts from the Sun's Envy are highly valuable, this led to over exploitation of the flower."

Günter sulked, pushing the pieces of crumb on his desert plate around with a small spoon, he was upset at being cut off and having Yuuri's attention taken away from him.

Gwendal ignored him not bothering to so much as spare the man a second glance before he carried on. "On top of that, many of the flowers were cut down on a massive scale during the war to make adhesives and bonding pastes for joining sheets of metal. The flower is now an endangered species, and given that they only bloom once every few years; the rate of it's proliferation is slow, the area had to be closed off to the common people to prevent further damage." Gwendal carried on heavily, seemingly distracted by something. "It has been kept this way for over six years now, enforced under an Act of Royal Protection."

"Signed by yours truly, the flowers were such pretty little things I couldn't stand to let them die out." Cäcilie said softly. "Now that I think about it, signing that Act of Royal Protection was probably one of the last Acts, if the not the last one I signed as Queen."

"Oh, so are you going to join us at the picnic tomorrow?" Greta asked directing her question at Lady Cäcilie.

"I would love to, but no my dear, you children go have fun." She winked. "I'll be sure to visit them later though."

"So it's settled! We're having a picnic!" Yuuri said excitedly sounding much like a young boy again while Greta laughed.

Gwendal stood up, "I'll go draft a Pardon."

"A Pardon?"

"It so we can enter the protected area." Conrad supplied.

"But I'm the King and it's under my protection right, can't I just go in?"Yuuri asked innocently, Gwendal's eyed twitched. _Geez what's bothering him?_

"I'm just saying is all." He added more weakly.

"It just a formality Yuuri." Conrad said, using the King's given name made Yuuri smile instantly.

"Oh, okay, in that case please do so, and thank you Gwendal." Yuuri said to the grey haired man who bowed politely.

"Be sure to be back before sundown, remember we will be having a meeting in my office after dinner." He then narrowed his eyes at the red haired woman at the table, remembering her mentioning the monstrosity that she had named Mr-Brighter-Than-A-Thousand-Suns-kun. "The Pardon will not include a permit to test out any of your ridiculous inventions."

"What?!" Anisinna exclaimed, "Ridiculous inventions? I'll have you know-"

"Excuse me." With that Gwendal took long strides leaving the dining room with the inventor hot on his heels. The others started filing out the room one by one in a similar manner. Greta stayed behind to inform the Sangria who just walked in to clear the dishes of what she wanted to take to the picnic tomorrow.

"What a great meal." Yuuri smiled contentedly and Conrad nodded fondly at him.

Wolfram observed Yuuri out the corner of his eyes as Yuuri walked beside him. _Day by day he seems to be getting better at being King. He's still a dork though. At least sometimes._

* * *

After Greta's thirteenth birthday, Greta had taken to sleeping in a separate room, one close to Anissina's sleeping quarters, Wolfram continued to sleep in the same bed as Yuuri minus the pink nightie, which he had grabbed and burned in a moment of rage and never bothered to replace.

He still owned his peach coloured night dress though, but after several nights of wearing regular pajamas and many questioning looks from Yuuri at the sudden change, Wolfram abandoned the wearing of dresses and hadn't worn one in months.

The fair haired boy remained on his side of the bed, he was reading a book about how and why certain traditions had fallen out of practice in the Great Demon Kingdom over the past thousand years. _Why do I even own such a book?_

"I'm excited for tomorrow, are you?" Yuuri said as he walked towards the bed in a blue long sleeve top and pants he'd bought back from Earth. The weather was beginning to get warmer now that it was spring, but winter wasn't ready to let go of it's hold just yet.

"I guess." Wolfram said, he down the book on in his hands, conscious of the fact that it would be rude of him to continue reading when his King was talking to him. _Funny, how I'm aware of such things now._ The blonde boy mused.

"Oh, wait! That's right, Lady Cäcilie said you visited before." The raven haired boy sat on the edge of the bed and rolled up his pajama bottoms to his knees before he started to do some stretches.

"Yeah, maybe once." Wolfram said distractedly noting enviously how much longer and more muscular Yuuri's legs were compared to his own now.

But he had something much more pressing on his mind. _This is the moment._

Every minute since he had finished with the tailoress was building up to this point. or perhaps every second since Yuuri had slapped him was counting down to this hour. _What does it matter, it was inevitable._

"How old-"

"Yuuri!" Wolfram said suddenly.

The said boy whipped his head around to face Wolfram, alarmed at the sudden exclamation.

"We need to talk." Wolfram said more slowly.

"Okay...about what?"

"Us."

"Us? What about us?" Yuuri said causally as he turned back to stretch his other leg, this annoyed Wolfram.

"Will you turn around! This is important."

"Alright." A short while later, Yuuri tucked himself into bed and faced the young man opposite him. Wolfram had taken the given moment to order his thoughts which suddenly seemed to be racing.

"What's up Wolf?"

"It's about our engagement." Wolfram said firmly. _No use in beating around the bush._

"Wolf." The boy whined in a way very unbecoming of a King Wolfram thought. "We've been through this."

"Yuuri-"

"It was an accident, I didn't know that -"

"Yuuri!" _Just be calm, don't lose it now or this whole conversation is going to end in an argument and that will take us nowhere._ "You don't even know what I'm going to say." Seeing he had the black haired man's attention he carried on, "It's an embarrassment."

"It's an embarrassment?"

"Yes, for me-"

"For you?!" Yuuri's eyes widened comically. "You're the one who publicly screams at me for flirting when I have done no such thing, you-"

"Yuuri! Listen to me and stop cutting me off, I'm trying to say something here." He let out a puff of breath in effort to keep his temper at bay. "Please just listen, we've been engaged for five years now and...people are talking." _People have always been talking, not that you'd ever notice._

Seeing Yuuri was about to open his mouth again, he spoke quickly. "I'm not a child anymore, I may not have changed physically as much as you, but I have changed. What's more, it seriously pisses me off when you all treat me like an oblivious fool!"

"Wolfram what's going on?" He looked genuinely confused, his countenance bordering on concern. "What are you talking about I never-"

"You're not a child anymore either, and whether you realise it or not, you _do_ look at other people. You look at women. I've seen the way they giggle when you do." Wolfram tried to keep his voice steady noting it was taking on a dangerously shaky edge. _Why must I be so weak?_

"You're bring unreasonable, that's not the same as flirting Wolfram, you know that." Yuuri defended himself.

"Fine. But can you honestly tell me that you have never looked at someone outside this farce of an engagement and haven't fantasied about them!" Wolfram could feel his face turning red, he never thought he'd ever say things like this out loud, now that he had, he felt like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

Yuuri didn't say anything but simply looked at him with wide eyes. "Wolf…Wolfram, where is this coming from?"

"This conversation is long overdue _Your Majesty_." He said viciously. "I _know_...I know you don't like me."

Yuuri looked momentarily confused. "Wolfram I don't know what you want me to say."

 _What do I want him to say?_

"Yuuri I want you-" Wolfram started unsure of how to proceed.

"You want _me_? Wolf listen I-"

"No! I don't mean I _want_ you." Wolfram felt hot air passing between his teeth. "Wait, that's not what I'm trying to say at all...I, I know that _you_ don't want me." He curled and uncurled his toes under the bed sheets, they suddenly seemed a lot more interesting than the man next to him. _Dammit, why can't I just say break of the engagement? The irony, I've gone around for years calling this man a wimp, when in reality I am also one apparently._ He thought to himself with a sick kind of amusement.

"So…?"

"We don't have a future together, do we?"

"Of course we do, you'll always be my trusted-"

"Yuuri! Please just stop, you know what I mean. " Wolfram's throat constricted painfully when he looked at the other's face, he had to swallow a couple times before he could speak again. "Just a say you don't want to marry me."

"I've already said it countless times, you becoming my fiancé was a cultural misunderstanding!" Yuuri's voice had taken on a desperate edge.

"Please Yuuri, just look me in the eyes and just say it." _This is the best way, it has to be._ Wolfram stared at the man in front of him intently. _Yuuri, you need to make your intentions clear and make a decision now while you can think about it rationally and whilst you are not angry with me._ His eyes were beginning to itch from the dry stale air circulating in the room, but Wolfram refused to close his lids, because if he blinked, he knew his eyes would moisten. _It's the only way either of us can get closure and it saves you calling it off in the heat of the moment and humiliating me further. Fuck, I'm so selfish.  
_

The young King sighed heavily suddenly looking a lot older. _Wolfram, I never seem to know what you're thinking, why are you doing this now?_ " Okay Wolf." He started. "I don't want to marry you, I don't feel anything for you other than friendship." Yuuri gave a sideways glance before looking back at Wolfram straight in his bright green eyes that seemed to suspiciously shine in the candle light. "I'm sorry Wolf." _God, I hope you're not going to start crying, what would I do then? Why did you have to bring this up now?_ Yuuri briefly looked beyond him at the candle on the bed stand, the bright light was hurting his eyes making him see irregular iridescent glowing shapes when he looked to the darkness of the room. _I never meant to hurt you._

Wolfram wanted to speak, to say that he had always known but his throat tightened painfully, and that cold jagged icy rock he felt all day seemed to dig in deeper. He could feel his heart beating, the vibrations echoing inside his ears. _Why the fuck are you being like this? You knew what he was going to say, so why are you acting so shocked? Dammit why won't my body respond differently? Why are you so weak? You really are a wimp.  
_

Yuuri noticed Wolfram moving his mouth but no words came out.

"Wolfram?...Are you alright?" Yuuri tried to reach out and touch the other male but stopped when Wolfram moved away. "Come on Wolf." Yuuri pleaded, almost whining.

When the green eyed boy finally decided to finally speak after a very tense minute or two, he simply said; "Okay."

"Okay?" Yuuri looked confused. "Okay what?"

"We'll do something about this engagement." _There you said it, that wasn't so hard._ Wolfram said to himself internally, swallowing a couple times, hoping that would somehow dissipate the choking sensation in his throat.

"What are you going to do?"

 _Call it off you idiot! What else is there to do?!_ "We'll figure something out later."

With that Wolfram rolled over and blew out the bedside candle. "Goodnight." He said curtly then he laid down with his back to his King.

"Wait Wolfram, you can't just fall asleep now, we have to talk." The black haired man insisted.

"We can talk more tomorrow." _What's there to talk about anyway? It's clear your mind is already made up._ He couldn't help but think bitterly. "It's late so just sleep already, we will have to leave very early tomorrow if we want to make it out of town before the midday rush."

Yuuri stared at the outlines of the bed canopy in the darkness for several minutes, the lack of snoring from the young man beside him indicated that he had yet to fall asleep. "Are you mad?"

"No."

"Are you upset then?"

Wolfram said nothing for a few seconds. _Why must you drag this on. Just leave it for now. Please Yuuri._ He begged mentally. "I'm fine, you should really try and get some sleep."

"You _ **are**_ mad."

Wolfram turned around to face his King, knowing there was only one sure way to shut him up, he offered his King a small sly smile, though in the darkness the other man probably didn't see it. "If you don't fall asleep soon and people see that you're tired tomorrow; they'll get the wrong idea."

"What would-"

"Another kind of _sleeping_ in bed." Wolfram offered dramatically, and realization quickly rushed to the other man.

"Oh." Yuuri humphed, feeling his face heat up. He gave a nervous laugh.

 _Yeah, I thought that would shut you up._ "Yes, exactly, with mother around the implications of baggy eyes can easily get blown out of proportion." Wolfram willed Yuuri to fall asleep, anything so he wouldn't have to hear his voice right now.

"I suppose you're right." He gave out an airy chuckle. "You know, this whole engagement thing has been crazy."

"Nothing has changed yet, save the reminiscing for later."

"I never wanted to hurt you Wolf." Yuuri said suddenly while scratching the light stubble at the side of his cheek. "Well, when I slapped you, I really did want to hurt you, but in the long run-"

"I know what you're trying to say, spare me. I could see this day approaching a mile away." He said as evenly as he could.

Yuuri looked at the silhouette of the man beside him in awe. "You know, you've really matured. A year or two ago, you probably would have bit my head off-"

"You're right, I probably would have but just stop. Stop talking down at me like you're my parent."

"I'm not trying to talk down at you, it was a compliment."

"I've heard worse."

"Sometimes, I just don't get you Wolf."

"I know you don't." _For goodness sake Yuuri, just be quiet and let me grieve and cherish my last night beside you in peace and quiet._ He let out an uncharacteristic chuckle, though there was nothing funny in all this. _You're such an inconsiderate wimp as always when it comes to my heart.  
_

"What's so funny?"

"Absolutely nothing."

No one spoke again for a few minutes but neither of two were asleep. Wolfram although desperate to end the tedious conversation with Yuuri felt the need to say something so the man beside him would not think that he was sulking.

"Before we leave tomorrow, make sure you shave."

"Huh?"

"A king shouldn't say 'huh?'"

"Alright then Mr prim and proper." Yuuri said lightheartedly, also trying to loosen up the tight atmosphere.

"I noticed at dinner today that you've got a patch of prickly looking stubble. We will have to ride through town tomorrow and it's not fitting for a King to look so unshaven and shaggy." Wolfram looked thoughtful for a moment, with no trace of amusement he started, "Unless you intend to grow out a beard but that will require regular maintenance or you run the risk of looking-"

Yuuri laughed genuinely this time. "Wolfram I'm not growing a beard!" Yuuri puffed out. "I'll shave in the morning." With that Yuuri rolled over to his side of the bed with his back to Wolfram.

Once again no one said anything for a moment, the only sound that could be heard was heavy breathing until Yuuri spoke again. "Goodnight Wolfram, and try not to kick me tonight, you don't kick nearly as much as you used to, but just tone it down, yeah?"

Wolfram didn't reply. _Maybe soon you won't have to worry about me kicking you, this may be our last night_. The thought made his heart ache, he'd slept in this room for years, the familiarity, the comfort and the warmth of sleeping with a another body close by him may soon become a thing of the past.

"Goodnight Yuuri."

Wolfram knew he wouldn't get much sleep tonight.

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter done! Although I had this chapter finished when I published chapter 1, I just needed to edit which I haven't had a lot of time to do unfortunately.**

 **PLEASE excuse any bad grammatical, punctuation errors, missing words etc. My work has not been read by a secondary source.**

 **This chapter is shorter than Chapter 1 because in Chapter 1 there was a lot of information I had to get out there to set the story.**

 **Not much happening yet I know, the action comes later, please be patient and carry on reading.**

 **Sun's Envy, Butterfly Chase, sometimes I wonder where I pull this stuff out of lol. The idea for Sun's Envy was based off Sundews, but they are not at all the same, for one sundew is a carnivorous plant with tentacles that are covered in mucilage. The Sun's Envy flowers that I made up are a bit like a cross between bell flowers and unopened lilies with the whole area over surface covered in the sticky substance but not where the carpels and stamen are.  
**

 **And** "yellow strawberries and lavender essence curd." **Eurrgh! The thought of that palate makes my stomach turn, I have no idea why I put that in. It's fair to say Wolfram, you and I have very different taste at least in my stories.**

 **Please review if you like, I wish you all a happy day. =)**


	3. Chapter 3: Not always butterflies

**I AM BACK! PLEASE READ CHAPTER 1 AND 2 AGAIN IF YOU READ THESE CHAPTERS BEFORE 28.08.2016 AS I HAVE RE-WRITTEN BOTH CHAPTERS AND MADE SOME MAJOR CHANGES RELEVANT TO THE PLOT. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ TO WHOLE THING, READ THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN GWENDAL AND YOZAK AT THE END OF CHAPTER 1.**

* * *

 **Summary:** A deadly sickness has struck the kingdom and the only known cure lies at the hands of a foreign family. But what will be their bargaining price? Yuri must become the King that he was always meant to be, and Wolfram; a stranger to all. Difficult decisions and grave sacrifices must be made if the Demon Kingdom is to survive.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Kyo Kara Moah or any of it's characters. I am not doing this for money, nor am I making any.

 **A/N 1: + future warnings: light cursing, very angsty sometimes, highlights of humour, mild horror and goriness (nothing too scary), depression, unhealthy coping meachanisms, friendship, hurt and family love.**

 **A/N 2: Mainly Wolfram-centric. OOC and angsty Wolfram.**

 **A/N 2: Yuri is 20 at the moment**

 **A/N 3: Greta is 14 at the moment, about to turn 15. I don't know when Greta's birthday is so I just made one up: March 18th.**

 **A/N 4: Slightly poetic sometimes, sorry I couldn't help myself =D**

 **A/N 5: A few years have passed since the anime, Wolfram has matured slightly but is still a brat sometimes, at the beginning at least. This will definitely change later on.**

* * *

 **A/N 6: Important, or you'll likely get confused:** _Characters thoughts are in_ _italics_

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Not always rainbows and butterflies **

The sun had barely begun to paint the sky when Conrad knocked on the royal chamber door several times before entering.

"Huh, whaaaat, Wolf no...leave me alone?" Yuuri mumbled sleepily trying to ignore the irritating knocking sound.

Conrad laughed quietly, then noted that Wolfram wasn't in bed.

"Your Majesty."

"Hmmm hughn." Was what he got in reply.

"Your Majesty." He nudged the young King slowly.

Yuuri jumped up startled, then relaxed on seeing the familiar brown eyed man. "For the millionth time Conrad, it's Yuuri!"

"Good morning Yuuri."

"Morn-aauuuughn-ing Conrad." He said awkwardly, his words interrupted by a yawn.

"The horses are ready, and everything's packed. You ought to get ready, we'll be leaving in about an hour."

"An hour, so soon?"

"It's would be a good idea to get through the Capital as soon as possible, it tends to get busy very close to midday these days." He explained. "I would have woken you sooner, but I thought I'd let you and Wolfram sleep in as late as possible."

"Oh, thanks." Yuuri said, smiling appreciatively.

"But it seems he must have already left." Noted the older man.

"He has?" Yuuri looked around, "Wolfram?" He called out groggily, rubbing his eyes to shake away the sleepiness. His usual bed partner was nowhere to be seen.

 _I wonder if he is mad about last night._ Yuuri sighed recalling their late night conversation. _We really need to talk._

"Is something wrong?" Conrad asked, noticing the slightly depressed look on Yuuri's face.

"Ahhh, no, it's nothing Conrad."

"If there's anything-" Before Conrad could finish his sentence, a soft mumbling sound caught his attention. Yuuri's eye lit up in recognition.

He rolled over to the other side of the bed and sure enough, there was a creamy foot sticking out from under the bed. "Wolfram?"

Yuuri poked at the foot and the appendage twitched in response.

Conrad had come around to the other side of the bed. "I wonder how he managed this?" The brown haired man said with a fond smile. "It seems, at some point last night, he must have fallen off the bed and on to the floor, rolled underneath then carried on sleeping."

"Huh." Was all Yuuri said, still not quite believing what he heard. "But how did he not wake up?!" Yuuri looked incredulous, then he burst out laughing.

Conrad gently pulled his brother out from under the bed, dragging him by the foot. The motion awakened the young man.

"Brother?" He muttered sleepily.

"Are you alright Wolfram?" Conrad asked, clearly amused.

Wolfram snapped into life, suddenly aware of how causally he addressed his brother and the fact that he was sprawled across the floor. "Weller, why the hell are you holding my foot?" He roughly yanked himself free out of his brother's grasp. He stood up all the while becoming aware of the fact that his neck and back were horribly sore.

He could hear someone laughing behind him. _Yuuri._

"What the hell is so funny?" He demanded.

"Wolfram, you're unbelievable." The young King said trying to catch his breath in between laughing.

Wolfram looked at Yuuri then down at his bare feet, he flushed realizing what had happened. He glared at his King feeling like he was being mocked.

Thankfully before Wolfram lost his temper, Greta timidly popped her head through the door then merrily walked in seeing both her fathers were awake.

"Oh good you're all up!" She was wearing a pair of knee high riding boots, fawn coloured jodhpurs coupled with a thick white long sleeve tunic top; a gift from Jennifer.

"It's good to see you're all ready to go, can't say the same for these two." Conrad said pleasantly, gesturing towards his godson and brother. Greta nodded in response. She'd already been up for well over an hour, sleep had eluded her, she was excited for this picnic; it had been a while since they had all gone out and done something like this.

"What's the matter with you?" She directed her question at Yuuri who sat on the bed, elbows on his knees and red in the face.

"Oh it's nothing, it's just Wolfram slept on the floor last night."

She looked at her other father and giggled, Wolfram looked away feeling embarrassed. _What's the big deal anyway, so I slept under the bed rather than on top of it. It's really not that funny._

"Well hurry up and get ready okay? We're only going to have a small snack for breakfast and if you don't hurry I may end up eating all the mini muffins on my own." Said the girl in warning, this got Yuuri jumping out of the bed like it was on fire. Wolfram only rolled his eyes, his misery and aching muscles temporarily forgotten.

Yuuri dashed out after Greta in his pajamas, he was heading towards the bathing suite knowing the maids would have already left a fresh set of clothing in there.

"Aren't you going with His Majesty?" Conrad asked.

Wolfram had forgotten his brother was still in the room, and it suddenly struck him like a physical blow; he didn't know what to do. _Should I follow him? Unofficially we're no longer together, is it okay to bathe with him?_ The thought made Wolfram's heart ache, he closed his eyes recalling last night's conversation. _I actually did it. The next step is to draft a formal proposal and present it to big brother._

Wolfram groaned out loud realizing he hadn't given much thought as to how everyone else would react to him breaking off the engagement. _I can trust Gwendal not to bombard me with too many questions. But mother...and stupid dramatic_ _Günter.  
_

Then he felt a wave of viscous guilt crash down on him. Greta. _Oh Greta, I'm sorry. Maybe I should wait till after your birthday before officially announcing the termination._

Wolfram smiled sadly. _Just one last time. We can be together and celebrate as a family._ A somewhat dysfunctional family, he reminded himself. _But a family nonetheless. Just one more time._

"Wolfram." He looked up to see his brother's concerned gaze. "Is something wrong?" Conrad remembered how Yuuri too had looked slightly upset for a moment earlier. _I wonder if they had a fight?_

Wolfram felt his throat constrict. _Like you'd care._ He then shook his head. _No you would care wouldn't you brother?_ The thought only depressed Wolfram further. _Fuck you Weller._

"It's nothing."

* * *

The town's people dipped their heads and women curtsied when they saw their beloved Demon King and his entourage riding through the main street, their party consisted of the King, the princess, Lord Weller, Lord von Bielefeldt and three guards. Two of the guards were positioned at the front and one at the back, Yuuri and Greta rode in the middle, sandwiched protectively in between Wolfram and Conrad.

The King and his daughter chatted merrily, smiling and waving at the people.

"I can't believe so many people are already up, it can't be even seven o'clock yet." Greta said, she slowed her horse to catch a small bouquet of flowers thrown at her from a young woman.

"I know, maybe we should have dressed as peasants." said Yuuri.   


"For this occasion perhaps not Your Majesty."

"Oh, why not? And it's _Yuuri_ Conrad."

Conrad rode beside his King on his right, subtly surveying the surroundings for any signs of danger. "You will be visiting a protected site, and you will be doing so as the King of this realm to show your continued support to the status of The Butterfly Chase as a protected site."

"Oh, I get."

Yuuri continued to wave and Wolfram who rode to the left of Yuuri beside Greta wanted to roll his eyes but stopped himself from doing so; aware of the fact that they were in public and under the watchful eyes of the early risers in the Demon Kingdom Capital. He sat on his white horse with his back stiff and straight, this was especially uncomfortable considering he had slept on the cold hard floor last night.

 _I really don't want to be doing this, why did I have to suggest that we go on a picnic? And fuck Weller again for suggesting the location be The Butterfly Chase, it's going to take us at least four hours to get there._ Wolfram whined internally, he wanted nothing more at that given moment than to appropriately sulk and be alone with his thoughts. After months of trying to act normal, months of considering terminating the engagement and finally actually calling it off less than six hours ago left him feeling utterly exhausted. Like spending hours drawing up a battle strategy then finally executing it, he felt tired, relieved and heavy. Wolfram fought the urge to slouch his shoulders. It all felt so surreal.

But looking at Greta who smiled and laughed made him feel a little better. _Don't look so miserable._ Wolfram forced the corners of his lips to curve upward, pathetically trying to look happy for all the people that were currently scrutinizing him. _For her sake._

Greta feeling a pair on eyes on her looked at the blonde man riding next to her. "Ne Wolfram, do you really think it was okay to leave Günter behind like that?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine Greta."

"He looked like he was going to cry."

"Gwendal said had something important he wanted to talk to Günter about, so don't worry."

She pouted.

"Günter loves to be dramatic."

"You're right about that." She chirped.

"And anyway, Günter's been to The Butterfly Chase many times."

She nodded, looking visibly relieved.

Once out Capital, the King and his party urged their horses to go a little faster, they made good time heading towards their picnic destination.

The Butterfly Chase referred to an area no bigger than 110 acres, but the prominent landmark that gave the whole area it's name was no larger than 5 acres and it lay nestled below in between several other hills and areas of high relief.

The group rode to the top of the highest hill to meet the land's royally appointed guardians so they could formally present The Pardon. That particular hill stood out ominously among the smaller brown green hills, one of the guards scouted ahead and found a well trodden pathway that was not too steep for the horses on the brae of the hill.

They made their way to the hilltop with relative ease, by then it was late morning approaching midday. At the very top, a small outpost had been erected, it was there to house the guards that had been placed there to protect the precious Sun's Envy.

As the King and his party approached the outpost, they could see a line of six men waiting outside a fair sized pastel orange coloured building, it was narrow and tall and somewhat resembled a watch tower.

"Say Conrad, what's up with the heavy get up?" Yuuri asked casually noting the standard gray armour the men had on. "These people are protecting flowers right, not fighting off fire breathing dragons?"

The man chuckled. "It's more for show now, they mainly warn off people that attempt to go over the hills, but there was a time when the theft of the Sun's Envy was a big problem and force was required to wade off the thieves." Conrad looked thoughtful. "They may be guarding flowers, but they are also proud warriors of this Kingdom."

Yuuri nodded his head respectfully.

"They are expecting us right?" Greta asked suddenly.

"Yes, I believe so. Gwendal should have sent them a message via pigeon carrier last night."

As they got nearer, a tall muscular man with light hazel eyes, coppery red hair and a bristly looking mustache approached them.

One of the guards at the front of the party got off his horse and handed the red haired man the Pardon Gwendal had drafted.

He appeared to look over the piece of paper briefly before nodding and approaching the King. "My name is Aldrick Dale your Majesty, I am the head guard here." He bowed deeply. "It's an honour to be graced with not only your presence but that of the princess as well."

"It's an honour to be here." Yuuri said as he gracefully descended his horse. "I regret to say that I only recently came to know of this place and it's importance, otherwise I would have come sooner."

The man smiled in turn. He had a rough kind of smile that made his leathery skin crease deeply. Everyone got down from their horses and pleasantries were exchanged.

This was another one of those times when Wolfram noted just how much Yuuri had matured. He greeted everyone professionally in a manner expected of a king, Günter would have blushed proudly. _But he still somehow manages to convey his friendliness and pleasant nature._ Wolfram thought as he compared it to his own dull and formal greeting of the guards. _We haven't had a chance to talk to about last night._ Wolfram felt uneasy on the inside, hurt and annoyed with himself. _You look so unaffected! I really am the only one suffering here aren't I..._

"If you please come this way, I will show you to the Sun's Envy." Aldrick gestured towards edge of the hill top on which they were currently standing on. "Baldwin here." He clasped the shoulder of the man that stood beside him, "Is my second in command will see to it your horses are taken care off."

Greta walked ahead excitedly.

"Please be careful princess, this hill is subject to steady erosion and the edge is especially vulnerable." Aldrick warned.

She suddenly gasped, "Pappa look!" She pointed down to the ground below the hill. "It's beautiful!"

Yuuri stood beside and looked down. "Whoa! Now that is stunning."

Below the hill lay tens of thousands of Sun's Envy flowers all sparkling under the late morning sunlight like specs of silver glitter. The flowers themselves where a canary yellow, yet to be opened; their pointed buds were slightly green around the tip. Flapping around them were many groups of hundreds of burnt orange coloured butterflies.

Aldrick gave a small chuckle at their reaction. "Indeed, she's quite a site."

"Hmmm, I'm assuming those are the Shinou's Lesser Red Cape butterflies Günter mentioned." Greta said pointing to down at the small flying creatures that looked no bigger than her thumb from where she was standing.

"That's right princess." Aldrick replied.

"I was expecting them to be red." She observed them a little longer. "They're changing colour!"

"Your eyes are playing tricks on you princess." Aldrick laughed. "It can seem that way depending on the angle from which you look at the wings. You see these butterflies have microscopic platelet structures on the scales of their wings, the colour that is reflected back depends on which way the light is shining on them." He explained. "As the angle of the source of light changes, they appear to change colour but in reality it's only the perception of our eyes that change."

"Like a hummingbird." Yuuri said admiring the site before them.

"What's a humming bird Your Majesty? If I may be so bold as to ask?" Aldrick questioned.

Yuuri laughed awkwardly. _Well, duh they probably don't have hummingbirds here in the Demon Kingdom._

"It's a kind of bird I've seen before in my travels." Yuuri offered vaguely.

"I see." Aldrick nodded. "Sounds interesting."

He then pointed to the side of the hill. "You see that path there."

Greta nodded.

"If you follow it down, you can quite quickly and safely make it to a flat landing on the brae with a fair amount of shade at this time of day." He looked at Conrad this time. "It's a good place to have your picnic."

Yuuri, Greta, Conrad and Wolfram set off descending the hill, down the opposite side from which they originally ascended. They left guards and the horses at the outpost, Greta practically skipped carrying the large picnic basket leading the way, Conrad too seemed unusually at ease and for once, and instead of protectively hovering over his godson, he chased after the princess trying to get the girl to slow down warning her of the uneven terrain.

Yuuri laughed at the sight.

Wolfram meanwhile looked at the flowers and butterflies blankly. A tree, a few hundred metres ahead of them closer to the bottom of the hill caught his attention; it was the tree that he played under with Conrad when he was a little boy. The sight bought a wave of fresh emotions to the surface. He sighed, not wanting to remember.

"You okay Wolf?" Yuuri asked. "Not still mad about sleeping on the floor right?"

Wolfram glared at him halfheartedly in response.

They quietly walked side by side for a minute or two, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of the earth crunching beneath their feet and Conrad a few hundred metres ahead of them repeatedly asking the brown haired girl to slow down. At one point he turned back to them and shouted. "Be careful, there's lots of loose debris the further down you go. Watch your footing."

"Will do Conrad!" Yuuri called out.

Yuuri regarded the demon beside him out of the corner of his eye as they made their way down. Wolfram knew he was being watched but decided to ignore his King, glaring at the patchy pathway like it had done him some great wrong. _Now who's being the wimp._ Wolfram asked referring to himself. He wished Yuuri would either say something or stop drilling a hole into the side of his head with his ebony eyes.

"We need to talk, don't we?" Said Yuuri eventually, unable to maintain the silence between them any longer.

"We do?" He started.

"Oh, come on Wolf! Don't be like that." Yuuri whined. _I really don't want to fight with you now._

"Fine." Wolfram finally looked up at his King, Yuuri was a few inches taller than him, but for some reason Wolfram felt smaller than usual, like he'd spontaneously shrunk.

"So the engagement..." Yuuri started.

"What about it?"

"Well what are we going to do?"

"There's not much to do." He said flatly .

"So it's over just like that?"

Wolfram wanted to roll his eyes dramatically. "No obviously not."

"So we're still engaged?"

"Officially yes." _This is so tiresome._

A part of Wolfram wanted to draw it out as long as possible, another part wished he had ended it years ago or at least have gone to Gwendal that morning and got it over with.

 _I'm so pathetic._ "We need to draw up a formal proposal and announce it publicly."

"Huh." Yuuri looked thoughtful. "Wait do I need to do something like slap you on the right cheek?"

"Don't be ridiculous, if you slap me..." Wolfram started in a threatening tone.

"If I slap you...?"

"That should be warning in itself."

"Hahhah you're right." The Demon King laughed heartily, the his faced morphed into something more serious.

"I'm sorry Wolf."

 _Here we go._ "You've already made your intentions clear and already apologized yesterday."

"But I am really." He looked at Wolfram with concern. "I'm sorry."

 _Not nearly as sorry as I am._ Wolfram rubbed at his chest absentmindedly.

"Will you be okay?" Yuuri spoke tenderly.

"Just stop!" Wolfram abruptly stopped walking."I get it! You don't need to spell it out for me, the proposal was a cultural misunderstanding."

"That's not why I'm sorry." Said Yuuri who'd also stopped walking at this point. "I'm sorry because I can't give you what you want." He sighed and started more slowly. "And I'm sorry, for not taking the initiative or having the courage to break this off sooner."

This surprised Wolfram, and it showed on his face. "Please just stop talking." _I can't do this right now, please Yuuri, please stop talking._ It felt like the previous night all over again and he could feel his eyes sting, but Wolfram convinced himself that his eyes were only irritated due to the sudden updraft that must have surely blown pollen and dust into his eyes.

"Okay." Yuuri said, walking again this time a few steps in front of Wolfram. "Will you be okay?" He asked for the second time in less than a minute, except this time without looking back.

"Obviously." Wolfram said stiffly, he warily looked up at the sky as if looking for something in particular or meaningful to focus on but it was cloudless, empty and ridiculously blue.

Meanwhile, Yuuri offered Wolfram a sympathetic smile which went unseen by the other. _You need time, I get it. I'm proud of you Wolf._

They walked in silence again, up ahead Greta and Conrad had already arrived at the landing about a third of the way down from the hilltop. Dale was right, it was the perfect spot; not directly under the midday merciless sunlight and close enough to the Sun's Envy flowers to get a good view. The princess was starting to set everything up.

 _Another step forward._ Wolfram sighed quietly, looking at the ground. _I wonder what I should do after this? Would it be okay to stay at the castle, would brother make me go back to uncle? Eventually and undoubtedly when Yuuri finds himself another finac_ _é wouldn't it be awkward if I was around?_

Wolfram looked at the back of his King's head as he had done many times before and uselessly noted that his shiny black hair seemed to go in a clockwise spiral. _No, then I would definitely have to go back, I can't be around, people would get the wrong idea. I would just be trouble for Yuuri, enough is said about me as it is._

He looked to the sky again, as if the answer to all his problems was written up there somewhere. _What would I say to Gwendal? To the people of the Demon Kingdom? What should I give as the reason for suddenly calling off the engagement?...That the proposal was a cultural misunderstanding? That we were never in love? I was acting as his personal body guard alongside Weller?...Shit this is really happening..._

Wolfram noted with some panic that he felt like he was on the verge of hyperventilating, he wanted to clear his throat but was afraid that might draw's Yuuri attention to him, and more than anything, Wolfram knew he didn't want the other's eyes on him at the moment. He carried on walking despite feeling like his esophagus was closing up on him and considered the possibility that he really was having an allergic reaction to the surrounding pollen. _Maybe it's the altitude...no we're not high enough for this kind of effect..._

Breathing through his mouth he felt no relief, and his mind drifted further into the endless questions that seemed to ruthlessly taunt him. With a haunted look he gazed at the cheerfully bright sky feeling sick.

Then without warning Wolfram was snapped out of his trance when he slipped on a small rock that sent him stumbling forward. He gasped in shock and that effectively filled his lungs with air, but at the same time the man lost his footing, he knew what would happen next was inevitable; gravity played it's favourite game and pulled Wolfram towards base of the hill. He felt his foot collided with something soft and firm; Yuuri.

Yuuri who had been walking a few meters ahead of him tripped and fell to the ground, he was startled by the sudden impact but reacted quickly and instinctively stretched out his arm and grabbed at the basal rosettes and grasses than were growing along the side of the pathway to prevent himself from being dragged down further. Realizing what had happened, he extended his other arm out in the direction he thought Wolfram would have been in, but it was already too late, he was unsuccessful in grabbing onto Wolfram's form and he ex-prince continued to roughly and violently roll down the hill.

The steepness of the hill and the crumbly flat sun baked pathway worked against him as he tried helplessly again and again to claw into the ground to stop his decent. Wolfram finally felt himself come to a abrupt hault when he felt himself hit something hard, the man gave a small cry as pain shot up through his side.

Wolfram could feel himself lying down, his right cheek was pressed into the dusty ground. He opened his eyelids slowly, and regarded the large greyish brown object that seemed to completely cover his field of vision. He felt dizzy from all the rolling and the earthly colours seemed to mix in nauseating swirls, Wolfram squinted his eyes trying to get them to focus. _A boulder?_

"Wolfram!"

He immediately recognized the panicked voice. _Yuuri._

"Wolfram, are you okay?!"

He sounded closer this time, Wolfram could feel the vibrations of running feet. A moment later he felt himself being turned over onto his back, he grit his teeth against the pain the movement invoked.

"Wolf, what happened?! Are you hurt?!" Yuuri was kneeling beside him, his hands pressed on the other man's shoulder.

Wolfram looked up at Yuuri's eyes which were worriedly scanning him all over his body. A few years ago I would have blushed was all Wolfram could think. He wanted to laugh.

"I can't see any bleeding." The other said hurriedly, he gently shook the other man noticing the vacant stare. "Wolf, why aren't you saying anything?!" The king was practically whining like a neglected child.

 _He looks so worried._ Wolfram opened his mouth feeling slightly guilty for being responsible for placing such a look on the other's face. There was a coppery taste at the back of his mouth. _I must have bit my tongue._ Sure enough Wolfram felt a slow trickle blood, watery blood collected at the back of his mouth and on reflex he swallowed to keep from choking on the liquid .

Yuuri's eyes seemed to widen. "Shit did you hit your head?!"

Wolfram frowned. _Why are you shouting? I'm right in front of you._ He wanted to say. _And a King shouldn't swear like that._

"Oh Wolfram." He heard a soft voice that sounded suspiciously like Greta. _But she was well ahead of us._ Wolfram vaguely thought.

"I don't know what happened Conrad. He just fell." He heard Yuuri say.

 _Conrad, when did he get here?_ Wolfram closed his eyes. The adrenaline rush was starting to wear off, he felt heavy and sore but of all the aches and pains, what stood out most prominently was a sharp stinging sensation on his left side near his rib cage that worsened when Wolfram inhaled and exhaled. His palms also felt like they were burning.

 _But at least that cold tight feeling in my throat has gone away._ For the first time in days Wolfram felt like he could breathe and before he could stop himself he laughed, feeling giddy. The pain in his side seemed to intensify in response so it came out as more like a choked gasp which only made Wolfram want to laugh more at how ridiculous he sounded.

He opened his eyes in time to see his brother and Yuuri share a worried look.

"I'm fine." Wolfram breathed out. They didn't look convinced.

"What's so funny?" He heard as soft voice ask. He looked to his side beyond his brother to see Greta's face scrunched in concern.

The guilty feeling returned. "Sorry Greta, I was just thinking about how I tripped." He lied. She looked at him expectantly.

"I was just admiring the blue sky, when my foot rolled over a small rock that sent me flying." He sounded uncharacteristically amused, sure enough Yuuri was looking at him like he had spontaneously sprouted an extra head and Conrad raised his eyes at him in clear disbelief.

"Well, that's rather clumsy of you Wolfram." She said lightly offering a strained smile. "You should be more careful, you're turning into Yuuri."

"Hey!" The black haired man said feigning mock annoyance. "That's never happened to me."

Wolfram pulled himself into a sitting position, trying not to hiss in pain when his palms touched the ground. He couldn't however, keep the wince off his face when his side seem to violently protest at the motion.

"Waaaih, should you be getting up?!" Yuuri asked.

"Yuuri I only tripped, stop overreacting." He breathed out heavily.

The young king glared at him. "You still could have been badly hurt." He mumbled.

"Let me have a look." Conrad narrowed his eyes noting how his brother seemed to lean heavily on his right side in his hunched position.

Wolfram followed his brother's line of sight to his torso, he swatted the other's hands away when they seemed to reach for the buttons on his uniform. "It's nothing, my ribs are a little bruised is all." He was pretty sure that was the case, the pain was unpleasant but not intolerable, plus he welcomed it because for some strange, possibly a physiological effect perhaps; he could breath easier now than he had in days.

"Wolfram..." Yuuri started in warning at his unofficially ex-fiance's stubbornness. "At least let me use some healing maryoku on you." Under the guidance of Gisela, Yuuri had gotten much better over the years at healing others to the point he could do so without needing to transform into the moah.

"I'm a demon Yuuri, I heal quickly." Wolfram replied proudly.

"But still..." Greta looked at him concerned. She could see her father attempting to stand up, despite wishing Wolfram would let himself be checked over, Greta moved to help support the man knowing unlike her uncle Conrad and pappa Yuuri, Wolfram wouldn't push her away.

 _My face must be covered in dust._ Wolfram thought self consciously, realizing that when he licked his lips they were powdery and grimy.

He bought up a hand intending to wipe his face on his sleeve when he noticed his palms were covered in small specs of blood and dirt. _So that's why they're stinging._

"Your hands are bleeding!" Greta said alarmed, suddenly noticing the red on her father's palms. "They looked pretty badly scratched up Wolfram." The girl examined his hands gently and Wolfram let her. "I think you may have some small stones embedded in there too." She grimaced. "We need to clean them out."

She made a move in the direction of where she and Conrad had laid out the picnic. "There's some clean water in the picnic basket." She started running down the hill before anyone could stop her. "I'll go get it."

"Don't run Greta!" Yuuri called out, sounding every bit the concerned father. "See what happened to Wolfram."

She rolled her eyes.

* * *

Less than half and hour later they all sat on the ground enjoying a delicious assortment of sandwiches, or at least were trying to. Conrad held a stiff smile occasionally throwing glances at his little brother, Greta was going over and beyond trying to act normal and chirpy whilst Yuuri tried his best not to look like he was sulking.

Wolfram ignored them all, only replying when appropriate but was otherwise genuinely enjoying the nutty buttercream pastries he'd been going through one by one whilst taking in the breathtaking view around them. Given all that had occurred over the past twenty four hours, with him breaking off the engagement, to his small accident minutes ago and the multitude of feelings and emotions that he had been experiencing lately, Wolfram was positively surprised at his ravenous appetite, he couldn't remember the last time he felt this hungry.

 _Just don't think too hard about anything. You're fine._ Wolfram reminded himself as he chatted away pleasantly with Greta, his tongue was sore from where he had bitten it, but the delectable treats he was currently stuffing into his mouth excited his taste buds and offered compensation for the pain. The ache in side still persisted, but it had faded to a dull ache that Wolfram dully ignored.

After Greta persistently insisted someone inspect his injured side, Wolfram sat on the boulder he crashed into and reluctantly let Conrad poke and prod him. Eventually, the older man arrived at the conclusion that nothing appeared to be broken but warned him that he would likely be sore for the next days and to expect a nasty bruise. None of which came as a surprise to Wolfram. _His hands were as warm as I remember them to be, if not a little rougher now,_ Wolfram had thought at the time when his brother pressed his large hands to his abused chest. He blushed when Conrad smiled at him teasingly before chiding him for falling over a rock, it had been like when they were younger all over again.

Yuuri had practically begged Wolfram to let him heal him, initially Wolfram had refused. However, when he thought of how much Greta had been looking forward to this small family outing, he felt bad noticing her worried gaze on his hands so he eventually conceded and let Yuuri heal his palms. _Plus it would make riding back easier, holding onto the reigns for hours with them rubbing against my palms would have been really bothersome._ He had thought, trying to internally find as many reasons as he could to justify being subject to his King's healing. _  
_

Greta had poured clean water onto Wolfram's maltreated palms and washed out as much as possible the dirt and debris in his wounds with water alone. Yuuri then let his green glowing healing maryoku flow over the other's hands. It had been comforting and soothing, within a matter minutes, his palms were completely healed with only a tingling sensation remaining.

Yuuri had tried to go onto to healing Wolfram's battered side, asserting the fact that just because he didn't seem have any broken bones didn't mean he couldn't have torn a muscle or damaged any cartilage tissue. Despite knowing that the young King was right, Wolfram had pushed his concerns aside which only aggravated the young King.

Yuuri then threatened to abandon the idea of having the picnic all together, Wolfram knew Yuuri wouldn't really do that, especially not to Greta, but bluff or not the fact that he would stoop so low angered Wolfram and it led to a small argument about Wolfram being overly stubborn and Yuuri's hero complex. Conrad had to step in and calm the two, seeing that Greta was getting upset. Yuuri resorted to letting the issue go, then sulked darkly during the first half of the picnic but finally came around when Greta jauntily offered him one of the purple raspberry tarts.

"Say what's that tree over there?" Greta pointed to a large tree some distance away that seemed to have thousands of butterflies surrounding it, it was impossible to see the leaves on the tree; there were that many of the flying creatures fluttering around it. "There are more Shinou's Lesser Red Cape butterflies there than anywhere else here."

"Why, that's one of the trees where the butterflies emerge from." Conrad explained. "Well specifically, the butterflies don't come from the tree, rather that's where the caterpillars go to form a pupa."

"A pupa?" Greta repeated. "Oh the chrysalis!"

"Yes, some call it that." Conrad continued. "It's the vessel in which the caterpillar undergoes the next stage of it's life cycle, it's organs and limbs transform and a butterfly emerges as the end result."

"Oh wow." She looked at the tree longing. "I've read about it in Anisinna's books but I've never actually seen it in real life." She looked at Yuuri pleading. "Do you think it would be okay to have a look? I promise to be real careful."

"I don't see why not." Conrad said. "But like you said we have to be very careful so as not to disturb the butterflies too much or trample on the Sun's Envy flowers." He then looked at Yuuri. "If it's alright with you Your Majesty."

"Well, I think it would be shame to come all this way and not see one of the miracles of life." said Yuuri. "Why don't you and Greta go have a look."

Conrad immediately got the hint, the fact that his godson hadn't corrected him when he called him 'Your Majesty' was enough of a giveaway. _He wants to be alone with Wolfram._

Conrad nodded in understanding. "Coming princess?" He stood up and motioned for Greta.

"You're not coming with us?" She looked at Yuuri then at Wolfram.

"No, you go ahead." Yuuri smiled at her. "I need to talk to Wolfram."

Wolfram raised his eyebrows in response.

"Is something wrong?" She asked uncertainly.

"Nah." Yuuri insisted. "I also need to ask Wolfram about something related to your birthday present, so go with Conrad okay?"

"Oh, okay." She didn't look thrilled but immediately lightened up when Wolfram offered a warm smile.

Yuuri waited after they left before making an attempt to initiate any kind of conversation. It actually looked quite comical; watching Greta and Conrad try to make their way over to the tree without stepping on any of the valuable flowers that only became more frequent the further down they went.

"So about Greta's present..." Wolfram started.

"Before that, I want to ask you one more time. " Yuuri said looking distractedly at the man across him. "Are you sure you don't want me to heal you? You look awkward."

"Yes I'm sure." Wolfram said calmly, he starting to get annoyed at repeatedly being asked the same thing over and over again, but he didn't want to sour the conversation so he kept his tone in check. "And for your information, I look damn fine!"

Yuuri laughed at his response. "Okay Wolf, if you say so."

Wolfram hmphed in a familiar brattish manner and Yuuri looked visibly relieved. _At least he's starting to act like his old self again._

"So what have you got her?" Wolfram asked, casually sipping on his lemonade, he was surprised at the fact that he was feeling oddly at ease around his almost ex-finace.

"Ahh, I got her few things on my last visit to Earth."

"I see." _Yuuri always brings back interesting things._ "I'm sure they're nice."

"Ahhh, err thanks." He said distractedly. "Anyway what I wanted to talk to you about is whether or not to get Greta a pet."

"A pet." Wolfram repeated.

"As in a live animal." Yuuri clarified.

Wolfram thought about this for a moment and couldn't see anything wrong with it. _It's actually a sweet idea, don't know why he's asking me about it._ But Wolfram felt strangely grateful. _It's like he's asking me for my blessing._ He wanted to laugh at the King's weird behaviour. _It's not like he's signing Greta off into an arranged marriage. He immediately sobered up at the thought._

"I don't see why not."

"From the both of us." Yuuri added.

"Both of us." Wolfram repeated some of Yuuri's words again. _I'm beginning to sound like one of those colourful birds from Earth that repeat what you say. A parrot._ He added as an afterthought.

"I just thought it would be a nice idea, to keep her company and all." Yuuri spoke without looking at Wolfram, instead he looked at the Sun's Envy flowers around them, they shamelessly glistened peacefully and obliviously under the sunlight.

"What are you talking about? Greta has plenty of people to keep her company at the castle."

Yuuri didn't respond directly. "Increasingly I will have to accept more of my duties as King."

He suddenly looked much older, Wolfram wanted to reach out and physically wipe the look off Yuuri's face.

Wolfram frowned, he felt like he was losing something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what.

"I love Greta so much, I don't ever want her to feel as though I've abandoned her."

"Wimp! What are you talking about?"

Yuuri smiled instantly, he'd never say it out loud but he'd grown fond of that nickname. "Things are changing Wolf." He looked directly at the other's beautiful green eyes. "It's not going to be the same." He said, not giving any clue as to what he was referring to.

Wolfram suddenly felt as though he had so much to say but nothing meaningful to contribute at the same time, so he simply stared into Yuuri's deep black eyes.

"We're ending the engagement for one." He continued.

 _That's just like him, not at all subtle._ Wolfram pressed his lips into a thin line, the termination was still a raw subject. _But what's the point in being subtle now anyway?_

"So you know, it would be nice to give her something from the both of us."

Wolfram nodded frowning.

"To show things are still cool between the two of us when we break things off."

 _Ahhh, a diplomatic move. You really are turning out to be quite the king Yuuri._

"Things are cool right?" He asked, trying his best not to sound too much like he was pleading.

Wolfram nodded and offered a simple."Yes." He surprised himself again by his reaction, or rather lack of reaction.

"Wait till after Greta's birthday." Wolfram said quietly.

"What's that?" Yuuri looked at Wolfram questioningly, not quite having heard what the other had said.

"I don't know how she'll react to this." Wolfram continued, he glanced in the direction his brother and Greta went in. "She's happy now."

"Yes she is." Yuuri said looking the same way and finally catching onto what Wolfram was referring to. "So we'll officially call it off after her birthday ball." He said looking for affirmation of his statement from the ex-prince soon to be ex-fiance.

Wolfram nodded gravely "After that, I promise it will be over." He said more to himself than Yuuri.

"Alright, fair enough." Yuuri leaned back on his arms and smiled when he heard Greta laughing in the distance.

"I'm sure she'll be alright, she's turned into a strong young woman." Wolfram laughed humorlessly. "I can't imagine why Greta would protest even if we called it off now, it's not like we're a real family anyway." He was trying to make himself feel better but the second the words left his mouth, Wolfram felt like he'd let lose the dirtiest secret of of century. Because saying they weren't really family was supposed to make the overwhelming feelings he'd been fighting down a little lighter, but instead the lost weight was replaced with forgotten and new insecurities. He simultaneously wanted to believe and deny the fact, frightened by the truth in what was meant to be a cowardly lie.

Yuuri sat motionless, looking at him with widened eyes.

"What I mean is, we're familiar with each other and fond of each other." Wolfram said quickly, his voice was taking on a dangerously shaky edge. "Even when the engagement is over, nothing should really change that, we're still going to be together." He took a moment to find the right words. "The engagement was...the engagement was just a status between the two of us after all, any affect it will have on the three of us should be minimal." Now he knew he was lying and he hated himself for it.

"We'll still be family though Wolf." Yuuri insisted.

Wolfram said nothing, stuffing more pastries in his mouth without really tasting them. _So this is self pity..._

* * *

The Great Sage of the Demon Kingdom had seen many things, had lived through many unfortunate experiences and these events had made him not necessarily always wise but knowing. He learned to listen to his instinct, and right now he felt greatly unsettled. He took off his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose not looking forward to the upcoming evening's meeting.

 _Shibuya, hurry back._ He looked out at the sky, without his glasses, it is was a thick opaque tuft blue, it's brightness made him narrow his lids in a protective manner _. It's too bright, and the wrong shade of blue._

* * *

 **A/N: Yuuri and when narrating the Conrad will…well be referred to as "Conrad" because that's how Yuuri refers to him. But others; namely demons will refer to Conrad as "Conrart" since that is officially his name.**

 **\- I noticed I keep writing "Great" instead of "Greta" lol, I think I've corrected all the "Great(s)" I found in the text, let me know if you can see anymore.**

 **\- As always, please excuse any grammatical mistakes, repeated/missing words. Like sometimes I keep getting the order of words mixed up in a sentence, my mind and hands words at different speeds. But if there's a mistake I keep making, please let me know.  
**

 **\- I know it's been a while since I published this story, but I'm happy I came back to it.**

 **\- I did put a notice up at the beginning, but for those you that missed it:** **PLEASE READ CHAPTER 1 AND 2 AGAIN IF YOU READ THESE CHAPTERS BEFORE 28.09.2016 AS I HAVE RE-WRITTEN BOTH CHAPTERS AND MADE SOME MAJOR CHANGES RELEVANT TO THE PLOT. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ TO WHOLE THING, READ THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN GWENDAL AND YOZAK AT THE END OF CHAPTER 1.**

Thank you everyone, I hope you liked this chapter. =)


	4. Chapter 4: A Difficult Discussion

**Summary:** A deadly sickness has struck the kingdom and the only known cure lies at the hands of a foreign family. But what will be their bargaining price? Yuri must become the King that he was always meant to be, and Wolfram; a stranger to all. Difficult decisions and grave sacrifices must be made if the Demon Kingdom is to survive.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Kyo Kara Moah or any of it's characters. I am not doing this for money, nor am I making any.

A/N 1: + future warnings: light cursing, very angsty, highlights of humour, mild horror and goriness (nothing too scary), depression, unhealthy coping mechanisms, friendship, hurt and family love.

 **A/N 2: Mainly Wolfram-centric. OOC and angsty Wolfram.**

 **A/N 2: Yuri is 20 at the moment**

 **A/N 3: Greta is 14 at the moment, about to turn 15. I don't know when Greta's birthday is so I just made one up: March 18th.**

 **A/N 4: Slightly poetic sometimes, sorry I couldn't help myself =D**

 **A/N 5: A few years have passed since the anime, Wolfram has matured slightly but is still a brat sometimes, at the beginning at least. This will definitely change later on.**

 **A/N 6: Important, or you'll likely get confused:** _ **Characters thoughts are in italics**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4: A Difficult Discussion**

Gwendal breathed lightly against the window, it was still cold enough that his breath clouded the glass for a moment, but the fog eventually dissipated; fading out from the corner to the center, once more exposing the clear scenery outside. It was early evening, the sun had painted everything in pleasant yellow tones, the King and his entourage had just returned from the Butterfly Chase.

Gwendal felt slightly annoyed, he had expected them back sooner.

Conrad and the rest of the men were on the ground whilst Yuuri and Greta sat on their still horses. Gwendal was too far away to make out individual expressions, but he could tell Yuuri was beaming and Greta was laughing wildly.

In fact she was laughing so hard that Conrad had to come around and steady her horse, which only succeeded in making Yuuri double over in a fit. Wolfram who had been riding further back galloped forward just in time to grab the young King by his collar and keep him from falling off as Ao bucked up in response to his master's excitement. Whatever his youngest brother had said to the King seemed to sober him up.

The stern man lowered his eyes from the scene, and sighed heavily.

He gracefully sat down at his desk and picked up his quill pen and ran his thumb over the base of the feather. Gwendal fought against the overwhelming urge to stress knit. It was mere hours ago that he sat at the very same spot and looked over Yozak's written report with their infuriatingly enigmatic resident Sage.

Gwendal recalled snippets of their earlier conversation, and with each memory he felt like he had swallowed a brick. The Sage's words floated in his head.

" _I have good reason to believe that this is Widow's Cry."_

" _The far off human lands."_

" _Thousands died."_

" _Perilous."_

" _No cure"_

A knock on the door sent vibrations through the room, he felt as though his train of thoughts had been physically knocked off and derailed. Gwendal quickly composed himself and said in n authoritative voice "Come in."

Dacascos entered and saluted. "Sir the King has returned."

Gwendal nodded. "Tell the servants to prepare them dinner and inform the King I will see him afterwards."

"Yes Sir!" Dacascos's eyeballs fell on the quill pen in Gwendal's hand and he blushed suddenly.

Gwendal raised an eyebrow at the sudden colour on the other Dacascos's face, but deciding he was in no mood for Dacascos's weird shenanigans, Gwendal dismissed him promptly.

"I will take my leave Sir!" The bald man unnecessarily informed in his squeaky voice as he left the room.

Gwendal sighed again, and not for the first time in that day he thought; _I am not looking forward to this meeting._

* * *

Dinner had been a brief but lively affair, with Greta informing Lady Cäcilie on every detail of their trip. Yuuri found her moods to be rather tiresome, one minute she was gushing over Greta's description of the head guard Aldrick; next she was mewling over Wolfram's little accident.

Wolfram hated being the center of attention in this case, in hopes of diverting everyone's fussing he suddenly asked "Where is everyone?" By everyone he was referring to the absent Voltairian ruler and the passionately-devoted-to-the-king Günter von Christ.

"Come to think of it…you're right." Yuuri said slowly.

"I believe Gwendal already ate." Anissina informed, "He said something along the lines of needing to prepare for a meeting."

"Oh yeah, the meeting." Yuuri said absentmindedly, but before the King had a chance to inquire about the nature of their gathering, Anissina started again.

"I wanted Günter to help me out with an experiment, but he just disappeared." She said sounding perplexed. Everyone else at the table instantly clocked that Günter was probably hiding somewhere.

"No matter, I will simply catch him later!" The inventor stated with renewed enthusiasm.

 _Poor Günter._ Yuuri laughed nervously.

Over desert Lady Cäcilie suddenly made a surprise announcement.

"You're leaving?!"Greta wailed.

"Only for a little while dear." She assured the distressed princess. "I promise to be back in time for your birthday."

Greta pouted nonetheless.

"Stop that darling!" Lady Cäcilie said as she reached across the table to cup the girl's cheeks. "You'll get wrinkles around your mouth, and you are much too young for that." She chided. "No boy will want you then."

"I think Greta is far too young to be thinking about boys." The King said abruptly.

"Why papa you were engaged to Wolfram when you were 15." She whined.

"That was an accident!" Yuuri laughed nervously and Wolfram stuffed more caramel and butter cake into his mouth, pretending to be oblivious to the conversation at hand.

"Is there anyone in particular you like Greta?" Anissina asked in a calm voice before plopping the flesh of a lychee like fruit in her mouth.

Greta blushed and vehemently shook her head. "No, there isn't anyone."

"Exactly, of course there isn't!" The King proudly proclaimed.

Lady Cäcilie chuckled watching her granddaughter and king.

"So where will you be going mother?" Conrad asked.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out precious." She giggled at her son in a suggestive way, to which Conrad only smiled widely and toothlessly.

Yuuri desperate to change the topic of conversation but unsure of what else to say, quickly said in what he hoped was a nonchalant voice; "Well I guess we'll see you later." He put down his desert spoon, thus ending the dinner session rather prematurely.

Yuuri stood up and everyone else followed suit.

"I'm sure you will your Majesty." Lady Cäcilie said pleasantly, she offered the king a small curtsy. "Now I need to go and decide on what to pack and you shouldn't keep Gwendal waiting." Then she added in a more pained voice. "I can't bear the thought of my baby getting another wrinkle."

She missed the hurt look in Wolfram's eyes as she exited the dining hall.

* * *

With the exception of the former queen, the five headed straight to the large office which already contained Ken Murata, Günter von Christ and Gwendal von Voltaire.

Yuuri entered first. _Something is not right here._

The lack of outburst from Günter when he entered the room was the first giveaway, Yuuri had expected at least some moaning from his teacher for missing lessons and not taking him along to the Butterfly Chase.

Wolfram looked at his brother's face meaningfully, Gwendal noticing his youngest brother's stare deliberately ignored him.

Yuuri stood a little stiffer as he made his way towards the front of the large wooden table, noting how drastically different the mood was in here compared to what it was moments earlier.

"So Gwendal, what's this meeting about?" He tried casually.

Gwendal briefly eyed the brown haired teenage girl before he spoke. "This meeting will be an informative discussion of a serious situation that has arisen in the East of this Kingdom."

"What serious situation?"

He motioned to the chair at the front of the long brown wooden table. "Please take a seat Your Majesty."

Greta followed Yuuri with light steps, noting the stern expression on the grey haired Commander's face as he watched her intently, just as she passed the said man he cleared his throat deeply.

"Is something wrong Gwendal?" She asked.

"I wish to ask that you may leave."

"What? Why?" This was not what she was expecting to hear, he had never asked her to leave a meeting before.

"This is a matter of official business." He observed her thoughtfully. "And no place for a child."

"I'm no child!" Greta said quickly, and as if to justify her point she added; "I'm going to be fifteen in a few weeks!" _At least come up with a better reason than that if you want me to leave Gwendal._

"Err, she can stay. I don't mind." Said Yuuri, not wanting to get off to a bad start.

Greta shot her adoptive father a grateful smile.

"This will not be a meeting appropriate for a child."

"I am not a child." She said more calmly this time, she looked at her father with a pleading expression whilst everyone else looked at the slightly irate Commander apprehensively.

Wolfram felt the need to say something to defend his daughter against Gwendal, but was unsure of how to proceed. _It's not like Gwendal to ask Greta to leave, maybe something terrible has happened that he doesn't want her to know about._

Yuuri tried to nullify the man, not wanting to start an unnecessary debate. "Gwendal I was fifteen when I was crowned King, and Greta being my daughter is a Princess of this Kingdom as well, she should be just as aware of what is going on as the rest of us are."

Gwendal wanted to disagree with his King, he could think of plenty of things that he never wanted Greta to know, but instead he simply looked at the girl disappointingly while she stood there with her arms crossed.

Aside from looking a little hurt, she did not back down.

"Greta, please sit down." Said Yuuri, motioning to the seat beside Wolfram.

The girl sat down heavily, not bothering to hide the fact she was sulking.

Once everyone was seated, Gwendal started. "There is no point in dragging this on, so I will get straight to the point." He looked directly at his brown haired brother. "Conrart, are you aware of a trainee in your regiment by the name of Jaecar Karlyn?"

"Yes, he's one of my new recruits." If Conrad was surprised at suddenly being called out he didn't show it, nonetheless he asked, "But what does he have to do with this meeting? Has something happened to him?" Conrad tried to recall when he had last seen the young man.

"He has a grandfather who is a librarian, he lives at a fishing village called Jade Peak in the far east. Through this librarian, we have been made aware of an old disease by the name of Widow's Cry."

"Widow's Cry?" Wolfram asked. "I've never heard of it." Gwendal ignored him again.

"This disease has never before made an appearance in the Great Demon Kingdom, only heard of in far off human lands where it raged many thousands of years ago." The Sage clarified. "It is my understanding that when this disease last emerged, it killed people in the hundreds of thousands."

Yuuri looked wide eyed. "That's terrible." His mouth suddenly felt dry as he put two and two together. "The serious situation in the east, are you saying it's this disease?" He demanded from Murata but it was Gwendal that spoke.

"In the midst of late winter, a middle-aged man died from what seemed to be the flu, but the librarian recognized that he had one of the symptoms of Widow's Cry."

Gwendal's eyes roamed across the faces seated at the table, his eyes finally settling on the face of His Eminence. "The old man had briefly mentioned this in a letter to his grandson Jaecar Karlyn."

 _How His Eminence came to know of the contents of that letter is still a mystery._ He narrowed his eyes at The Great Sage who stared back with a vacant expression.

"At the request of His Eminence." Gwendal spat out, irritation dripping in his words. "Yozak sent out three spies and two healers to investigate just over two weeks ago, Yozak delivered their report to me yesterday."

He looked directly at his King who looked back at him seriously. "We believe that Widow's Cry has already killed six people and fifteen more have been reported as having become infected as well."

"What, that many have died already?! Why wasn't I informed?" Yuuri jumped up, suddenly his full attention on the Voltairian ruler.

"Calm down Shibuya, this is fresh news to us all, it was not meant to be kept from you, we simply weren't sure if this was a real threat or not." Murata pushed up his glasses so the browns of his eyes were much clearer to see. "We didn't want to get you worried over nothing."

"Worried over nothing, this isn't exactly nothing now is it?!" Yuuri gave him a frustrated glare. "I am the King. Aren't I?!" This time he looked meaningfully at Gwendal. "It doesn't matter that you didn't want to trouble me, I should have been informed the minute you heard about this disease."

"Rumours of horrendous monsters and deadly diseases appear all the time. It made sense to go investigate first." Murata added.

"That's not my point." The other black haired man protested.

"Shibuya, you don't have time to be offended, this is important. Listen."

 _Don't treat me as though I'm a child here Murata._ Yuuri shot him an annoyed look but said nothing.

"This disease, how does one know if one has the disease?" Günter asked.

"Apparently it starts off with flu like symptoms, it is a degenerative illness; death may result from a number of causes." Gwendal proceeded to list some of the less than desirable symptoms Yozak had mentioned to him yesterday, the King became increasingly troubled with each new symptom he bought to light.

He glanced at Greta's face and wished he had tried harder to get her to leave the room.

"So what's the cure for it?" Yuuri asked quickly.

"There is no cure." The Great Sage supplied.

"What do you mean no cure?"

 _What I mean Shibuya is that it is thus far an incurable disease._ Murata sighed silently. "Healing maryoku has proven to be ineffective at remedying the illness. We do however know of a tried and tested way to test for infection using a suspect's blood and chemically treated paper."

Gwendal dared looking in Anissina's direction. "I have prepared a comprehensive report for you regarding the testing method for this disease."

He handed her a blue card folder. "I was hoping perhaps you and Gisela could look into this, possibly even create a device of some sort that would make identifying this disease easier." _I hope I won't come to regret asking this of you._ Gwendal mentally added.

Before Anissina could say anything, Yuuri spoke again. "Wait, the people that you sent, errr… I mean Yozak sent, what if they have become infected, what are they going to do?"

"They have thus far not become infected". Gwendal assured.

Yuuri looked as though he wanted to say more, but Murata started swiftly, not wanting to become distracted. "We believe that the disease is spread through contact with body fluids, the spies and healers are aware of this and are taking caution." The man pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "The chief of Jade Peak would have informed his people, and their nearest neighbouring village must also know this by now." He stated.

"Body fluids?" Yuuri repeated uselessly.

"Yes; mucus, semen, saliva and so on." Murata added looking at his friend blankly. "However, in spite of the extreme measures that are undertaken, if by chance one of them or all were to become inflicted; they will be burnt."

"What do you mean by they will be burnt?" Greta asked timidly.

"It seems the only sure way to prevent the diseases' proliferation from the dead." Gwendal clarified, thoughts were weighing heavily on his mind. He wanted to lean his elbows on the table, but he refrained from doing so, conscious of the company he was in.

"They will be burnt alive." The Sage clarified seeing von Bielefeldt didn't seem satisfied with his eldest brother's lack of direct response. "The goal being to dehydrate the deceased bodies till there is no liquid left."

From where he was sitting at the front, Yuri paled.

"Well they don't necessarily have to be alive, just so long all as all that's left of the sufferer is their ashes." He added, noting his friend's expression.

"That's barbaric." Greta said, visibly upset.

"It's containment and prevention." Murata added in an unsympathetic tone.

 _But what we don't know for sure is how effective this really is._ The Sage thought internally. _Cremating doesn't necessarily mean the threat of disease from the deceased body is over, until I know more about the nature of…_

Yuuri's voice suddenly snapped the spectacled boy from his worrisome pondering.

"Surely there must be another way." Yuuri insisted. "You can't expect our own men to start killing their friends like that just because they've become infected! We haven't even tried to find a cure for this thing yet!" He exploded at the Sage.

His anger renewed, the young Demon King couldn't hide his fury at not being informed that his subjects had been sent to carry out such a dangerous task.

Yuuri looked uncharacteristically angry, gone were the charming boyish features, he now resembled the Moau in his 'justice form'. "Have you already started burning people without telling me as well?!" He directed his words at the Voltairian ruler.

"Shibuya, you're being ridiculous."

"Am I?!" He snapped his head back violently to look at the Sage once more.

Murata raised an eyebrow at his friend in way that effectively said yes.

"Yuuri, _**you are**_ being ridiculous." Wolfram said hotly.

"What was that?!" Yuuri spat back in an equally irate voice.

Wolfram openly glared at the other man through narrowed eyes, "You should not insult their pride, they are your subjects, and they have taken a great responsibility upon themselves in your name." He huffed his breath rudely to convey his vexation. "For this kingdom."

"And I asked them to do no such thing! I should be informed before anyone leaves for a potentially deadly mission. There could have been another way." He insisted as he looked around those seated at the table in annoyance, his accusatory glare lingering on Murata and Gwendal. "Does being King count for anything around here?"

"What other way do you propose Shibuya?" Murata asked in perfectly calm voice, his face holding an all knowing expression. _Your caring nature is one of your best qualities Shibuya, but right now you're just being immature._

"I have been told that they gave their informed consent before they left." Said Gwendal, annoyed at the fruitless turn the discussion had taken on.

Yuuri looked at the acting Head of State with an atypically distasteful expression, then focused his eyes on Murata solely. "I don't know how you came to know of it, but if you thought something was exceptionally wrong when that villager died, you should have told me before you requested anyone go check it out."

"I did not wish to chance you suggesting something so stupid as volunteering to go to Jade Peak yourself."

"Stupid?!" Yuuri shot up from his seat while slamming his palms down on the table, Greta jumped up in shock at the violent action, while Günter pathetically mumbled "Your Majesty."

"Yes, Shibuya." Murata said to his friend in an even tone, seemingly not at all affected by the young King's sudden animate behaviour. "Not only stupid, but selfish."

Yuuri opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Murata spoke again "You are the King. Start acting like it." _It was for your own good Shibuya._

Yuuri glared, _How can I, if my subjects, my friends won't tell me what's going on!_ As vexed as he was at that moment, Yuuri knew whatever he said to his friend wasn't going to change the current situation at hand.

Gwendal cleared his throat noisily.

The young King sighed heavily stared into his lap feeling too annoyed to feel embarrassed at his outburst. _I hate it when things are done behind my back._

Yuuri fought to keep a hurt look off his face in favour of looking angry. _Calm down, you're losing your cool too quickly._

From where he was standing, the King glanced down to his right to find the soothing figure that was his godfather bearing back at him patiently. The man nodded at his godson reassuringly.

Yuuri then looked over at Wolfram on his left, the blonde sat rigidly, his lips drawn into a tight line. _I wonder if he is in pain?_ He suddenly thought, reminded of the other's earlier fall. _I should have insisted more thoroughly that Gisela have a look at him._ Instantly Yuuri felt deflated and sat down thickly. _But it's not as though he would have listened._

In a much firmer voice Yuuri continued. "Gwendal, these people, the people that were sent out," He clarified. "When they return I want to personally see that they are rewarded."

"As you wish Your Majesty." He said simply. _Though there really are more urgent things you ought to be worried over._ He mentally thought.

Günter looked on affectionately at his King before respectfully turning his attention to the other black haired man in the room. "Your Eminence, you mentioned that it is a disease of the human lands."

"That's right Lord von Christ."

 _"_ Isn't there someone in the human lands beyond that we can ask? Perhaps one of our allies?" Yuuri asked.

"Not that we know of." Gwendal finally gave in and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table, feeling some of the tension let up, but he tried not to hunch forward too much.

"I believe the last outbreak was in a northern human country called Sithelanar well over five thousand years ago." Murata supplied.

"And we have no connections in places that far away…" Conrad added, deep in thought.

"Is there an outbreak there now then?" Anissina asked, speaking for the first time since the procession of the meeting.

"Not that I am aware off." Gwendal said gruffly.

"I've sent letters to Mr Hyscliff and Lady Flynn." Murata pointedly ignored Gwendal who was currently drilling a hole into the side of his skull. "Hopefully we'll hear from them in about a week."

The Voltairian ruler narrowed his eyes at the Great Sage. _When had he sent those letters?_

Murata paid the man no heed, he carried on. "In fact, strangely the only known outbreak is in Jade Peak Village which leads me to wonder how this disease got here in the first place."

"Do you think perhaps it was deliberately introduced?"Günter asked shocked at the thought.

"I don't know how Widow's Cry found its way to the Demon Kingdom Lord von Christ, I'm afraid at the moment all we have is guesswork in regards to its introduction here."

"Of course Your Eminence." He replied quickly.

"The first man to perish, he should be investigated thoroughly." Anissina said bringing a hand up to her chin, "There might be some clue there."

"Possibly, but it's my understanding that his house was searched, his past actions over the month leading up to his death looked into thoroughly." Murata glanced at the Chief Commander briefly as if looking for confirmation of his statement.

Gwendal nodded grimly, thinking back to Yozak's written report that he handed in that morning. "Along with the other six that have perished, all were investigated."

"The man seemed to have done nothing out of the ordinary, not bought anything unusual from an oversees merchant, gone to work and all the other places he usually frequents as per usual according to his sister." Murata pushed his glasses up. "Nothing out the ordinary, just one day after finishing his shift at the shipyard where he worked as an engineer he came home and when he woke up the following morning, he was feverish and well…you know the rest."

"Perhaps he came into contact with some pathogen at the shipyard?" Günter supplied.

"But why only him?" Anissina asked, "If he worked as an engineer there must have been others working with him, did they-?

"No." Gwendal said answering her question before she even had the chance to ask. "No one else from his place of work is reported to have fallen ill."

Murata scanned his eyes over the table taking in everyone's expressions. They all ranged from concerned to annoyed to expressively blank. "Interestingly, the people who are suspected of having Widow's Cry have been isolated to one area of the village. The fact that infection seems to be happening in the same area can be put down to the fact that the disease is thought to spread through contact with body fluids."

Gwendal followed up on the Sage's words, "But it doesn't explain why several others who have come into contact with the afflicted, including persons such as the local healers and the sister of the first man to fall victim have not contracted the disease."

"Widow's cry is exclusive in whom she infects." von Christ stated more than asked with a slightly surprised look upon his countenance.

"Or maybe it is selective in who it expresses its malignity." Anissina offered.

"You mean to suggest it somehow lies dormant in someone?" Günter asked the red haired woman directly.

"Maybe if we could find out why those people have not become infected, it could lead us in the direction of a cure or at least a means by which to effectively prevent it." Conrad said, speaking for the first time after a while.

"Some sort of natural antibody perhaps!" Anissina seemed to get excited at the prospect. "If I could get a sample of blood from an infected person, find a way to inactivate the pathogen…isolate and purify the protein, we could potentially have a vaccination at hand." She practically beamed.

Yuuri looked relieved, and Gwendal's wrinkles seemed to lessen somewhat.

"Perhaps…" Murata conceded, not quite willing to jump on the merry boat just yet. Anissina looked at him harshly.

 _It's nothing personal_. Murata thought but offered a conciliatory smile instead. I get the feeling this isn't your typical disease, _The Widow's Cry_ …Halting his current train of thoughts, Murata continued, "Whilst it is the most likely culprit, your theory is based on the fact that Widow's Cry is caused by a living organism or a virus of some sort…"

The inventor didn't look entirely convinced.

"A few decades ago on Earth, a material called asbestos which was made from microscopic mineral fibers was used widely in homes." Murata started.

Yuuri looked at his friend, wondering why he was bringing up this seemingly irrelevant topic.

Murata continued. "It was used in flooring, drywall fireproofing and in insulation to name a few. However what was not immediately known at the time was that these fibres could be breathed in causing extensive damage to the lungs overtime, leading to a disease now coined asbestosis."

"I do not see how this ties in with Widow's Cry." Wolfram interjected.

Murata sighed. "My point is we need to keep an open mind about Widow's Cry and not rule out anything until it has been thoroughly investigated or we could risk missing something important. With asbestosis, when people developed respiratory ailments, it was blamed on asthma, bacterial infections and all sorts of other pathogenic-borne diseases."

Anissina nodded, understanding the point the Sage was trying to make. "Well anything is a possibility, given how little we know at the moment." She felt a little miffed as well as embarrassed for acting as though she had it all figured out.

"Well let's say for a moment that this disease is caused by a pathogen," started Günter, "The first man to fall victim could have come into contact with it years ago, and only fallen ill following the influence of some sort of external stimulus that caused the species causing Widow's Cry to become active again."

Yuuri looked at the lilac haired man helplessly.

Günter too looked troubled, realizing if what he said were true; it just made the situation look a lot more dire. "Since however the man is now dead, we will not-"

"We keep calling this deceased person 'the man'! He does have a name doesn't he?" Greta interjected suddenly, a scowl gracing her face. _It's disrespectful._ She thought sourly.

The Great Sage looked mildly surprised at the girl's intrusiveness, whereas Yuuri managed a small affectionate smile.

Gwendal cleared his voice awkwardly, "Yes, I believe Yozak mentioned in his report, the name of the first victim was Eike Torben."

Greta stared down at her lap sadly in a way that made Gwendal suddenly feel guilty. _This disease just became a little more real._

"You mentioned that he had a sister." Greta looked at Gwendal and it took all his years of training to keep from openly wincing.

"Yes, that's right."

"Will she be okay?"

"She will be." Yuuri said with certainty.

No one at the table seemed to quite believe him and Wolfram placed his arm around the girl comfortingly, only to have it shrugged it off.

"Sorry." She said, realizing her action.

"It's okay Greta." Wolfram smiled at her, hurt but not angry that his daughter rejected his offer of comfort. _More than that, I don't want you to go away and be upset on your own_. Wolfram was suddenly reminded of the all too obvious fact that Greta was growing up, he couldn't readily cuddle her anymore. The thought made him feel depressed all over again.

Wolfram pretended not to notice Yuuri's concerned gaze aimed in their direction.

"Anyway." Murata's voice snapped everyone's attention back to the matter at hand. "Torben's neighbor was the librarian who found out about the disease from an ancient book he owned."

"The book is on it's way here now with our men." Gwendal inserted, finally tearing his eyes away from the sullen princess. "Unfortunately, to set us back even further the book is written in a strange human language."

"Specifically what I believe to be the lost language of Sithelanar." The Great Sage said, it was impossible to tell who he was looking at from behind his specs. It gave him an omniscient aura that Gwendal had come to despise.

 _He did not mention this to me before the meeting._ Gwendal glowered at the table in front of him _. Great Sage or not, one day I may very well end up ripping those glasses off his face and crushing them beneath my feet. Günter_ _would be in hysterics._ Despite it being quite atypical of him and inappropriate given the current discussion, he wanted to laugh.

Risking a glance at the Great Sage, Gwendal could have sworn he was smirking at him, he loured in return which only seemed to make the Sage break into a full-blown sly smile, which he tried to cover by bringing his black sleeve up to his face.

"Can't you just get the librarian to read it? I mean, he knows how to read it doesn't he? If he identified the disease and all? " Yuuri said oblivious to the exchange between the Commander and the Sage.

"The librarian may very well know how to interpret some of the writing in the book, but he himself is dying from the disease, he'll be dead in a matter of days. Even if we were to set out this very minute, or contact the spies and ask them to return to Jade Peak, it would be off little use." Said Gwendal.

"He'll likely be dead or too far gone to be of help to us now." Clarified the Sage tonelessly.

Yuuri sighed heavily, while Greta looked crestfallen.

"Then, I take it you don't know how to read the book then, Great Sage?" Gwendal asked letting an ounce of mockery drip into his words. Yuuri raised his eyebrows briefly at Gwendal, but focused his attention on Murata with anticipation blooming in his chest.

"I'm afraid not, however from the vivid drawings I received via the Kohi that delivered the report, I was able to identify characters that are similar to a style of literary writing in the country of Prouye in the north west."

"Prouye?"

"That's another human country beyond Big Cimaron." Conrad supplied. The Sage nodded at the brown haired in affirmation.

"If I could translate the book, I believe we can gain a better understanding of the disease, I think it's entirely possible that contemporary Prouyen is derived from Sithelanaran." Murata rubbed his chin thoughtfully whilst everyone at the table looked at him expectantly. "Lord von Christ, I was hoping to count on your assistance in this matter."

"Of course Your Eminence, I'd be honoured to help in any way I can."

"When our spies are back, we can have a crack at it." Murata said as he pushed up his glasses to the bridge of his nose once more.

"Ahh…yes." Günter looked momentarily confused. _Take a crack at it? Surely His Eminence cannot mean physically breaking the book?! What use would that have?_ Günter looked worried, but given the expressions of the occupants around the table; his negative countenance easily blended in. _Must be some kind of Earth expression._

"So what are we going to do till then? We need some kind of an action plan." Yuuri said calmly, despite feeling anything but. He wanted to get up, run around, go for a jog maybe because sitting still was beginning to drive him mad.

"At the moment, all we can do is wait for the spies to return to Blood Pledge Castle with the librarian's book. After which I suggest I set out for Prouye in hopes of finding someone who might be able to help us translate the book and hopefully provide us with more information about our resident disease." Murata said, noting his glasses had slid half way down his nose again. _I really should get these readjusted._

"From what I gather from everything that's been said, we already know the book doesn't contain a cure." Said Wolfram, he'd been quiet long enough.

"Still the information we have is too vague, I need a proper translation, all we know so far is how to test for the disease, the symptoms, possible mode of transmission and once contracted; the likely length of time before death. This is all very helpful and all, but we need more information if we are to find a cure." Murata glanced at the green clad commander out of the corner of his eye. _Still glaring I see._ "Lord von Voltaire I think it may be helpful if we discreetly send out a message in search of scholars who know either Prouyen or Sithelanaran that may reside in this Kingdom or among our allies."

Gwendal nodded in agreement, "We have to seek out these scholars in a way as to not alarm them or anyone else."

"I agree, but we are searching for scholars and experts of literature, it's hardly sinister." Murata stared intently at the King who looked back at him with an equally intense stare. _Still, it's only a matter of time before people become suspicious, it's only a matter of time before word of this killer disease will spread across the kingdom. This may be one of your biggest challenges yet friend, you'll need to step up. Your kingdom will need you now more than ever our King._ Murata groaned inwardly. _I think I am getting too sentimental._

"The second course of action we ought to take is to send out a reconnaissance party to investigate the old lands of Sithelanar, which now fall in Igozian territory."

Gwendal nodded in the direction of the Sage in conformation, Anissina answered in his place; "I think that that's a good start, if we can find where this disease originated from, maybe there; we'll find the cure as well or at least some clues on how to make one ourselves. Someone, somewhere must know of something." She gripped the table edge tightly with conviction. "Meanwhile I will do what I can to come up with some sort of treatment plan on our end."

"The healers are bringing back both physically and maryoku sealed samples of infected tissue." Gwendal said looking uncomfortable, but everyone understood his discomfort, they were practically inviting the disease through their front door.

"I also think it's worth bearing in mind that Widow's Cry may not have necessarily originated in Sithelanar, the last recorded outbreak appears to have been there and the book happens to be written in a Sithelanarian language." Said the black haired sage, he resisted the urge to sigh in way that was very unbecoming of him. _Shinou always said I sighed too much._

"It's not as though we have any other leads." Said Wolfram looking a little put out.

"Exactly let's go now!" Yuuri stood up with an air of finality. "Murata, you can go to Prouye to translate the book and I will set out to the former Sithelanarian lands to investigate the last outbreak."

"I'm afraid we cannot Your Majesty." Gwendal interjected.

"Well why the hell not?!"

"If I am not mistaken, Igozia is a northern country." Günter looked as though he were trying to recall something significant. "Despite the moderate climate we're experiencing at the moment, we will have to wait at least another month before it is safe for nautical travel." Günter said as he regarded the young man that was his king sympathetically. "It's too hostile, your majesty."

The Sage agreed with the advisor. "The sea's partially frozen over in that area Shibuya, not to mention all the ice bergs. It would be like taking a giant sledgehammer and hitting the Antarctic landmass, then trying to sail in between the cracks." He said gravely. "Furthermore Igozia compromises of mainly mountainous terrain, the place is renowned for having some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded; everything in the surrounding area gets turned to ice when the winter comes."

"In short, going there now is suicide." Wolfram summed up what everyone was thinking, though he did not quite understand the sledgehammer reference.

"So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?!" Yuuri looked visibly frustrated as he leaned over the table, like a child that had been told after a year of waiting they could no longer go to Disney Land.

"We wait." Answered Anissina with her arms crossed, a light frown adorning her face.

Gwendal cleared his throat, mentally preparing himself for the childish onslaught. "I would like to highly recommend that Your Majesty not leave."

"What do you mean?!"

"There's a deadly incurable disease lose in the Kingdom and the King suddenly jumps land." Said Wolfram with annoyance thick in his voice. _That should have been obvious! Typical Yuuri, he's all Kingly and manly one minute, then a stupid reckless child the next._

"To help find a cure!" He protested.

"We know you mean well Your Majesty." Gwendal pronounced each word carefully, feeling his patience slipping and a tightening sensation building up behind his temples.

"It just won't look good papa Yuuri." Said the said man's adoptive daughter.

 _Really, you as well Greta?_ Yuuri looked at the girl sadly. _Am I really making a fool of myself?_ He looked at the faces that were staring back at him. _I only said what I thought was right, it's what I have to do. It's my duty as King to go and find this cure! So why are you all looking at me like that?_

A soft voice broke through his thoughts, it was Conrad's surely. "A King should be with his people in times like these, to reassure them." He smiled warmly at the young man, conveying with his soft brown eyes understanding and sympathy.

Yuuri sat down slowly and he took a deep breath, letting some of the tension roll off his shoulders.

"Not to mention, demons rarely travel this far into human lands, it would be unwise to send The Great Demon King to uncharted territory with next to no assurances. I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to you Your Majesty!" Said Günter, working his way up to hysterical.

"I want to go, I can't just sit here and do nothing." Said Yuuri tightly, ignoring Günter completely.

"You most certainly will not sit here and do nothing." Gwendal said harshly. "With respect Your Majesty, the situation is going to get much worse before it gets any better."

"I know that!"

"Then you will also realize why you are needed here in the Demon Kingdom." Gwendal replied sharply as though he were speaking to a naughty child.

"It's only a matter of time before people become divided Shibuya."

"You ought to know better." Wolfram chimed in crisply.

 _Why are you all being like this? Do you all think I'm stupid?!_ Yuuri wanted to scream in frustration.

"I'm inclined to agree Your Majesty, it would be wise to-."

"It's Yuuri, Conrad! **Yuuri!"** He snapped at his godfather and scowled at the man as though he were solely responsible for the disease itself. He had finally blown, any semblance of calm and patience he been trying to maintain rolled off like water on his shoulders. His chest heaved up and down and the brown haired guard looked on mildly taken back.

Yuuri could feel his ears burning, through it all he thought he heard his daughter mumble something at him, but he couldn't hear it over his heavy breathing.

An eerie kind of silence reigned over the room and occupants, broken only by Yuuri's light panting.

"Shibuya." Murata started evenly. "I know you want to go, but right now you need to think of what your people need and it's most certainly not a King who is thousands of miles away."

"You represent peace and unity here, it will surely be needed now more than ever." Anissina added.

"There is already a certain matter you must tend to." Yuuri looked at Gwendal expectantly, he was angry at his own helplessness, a mildly vicious look had managed to paint his face. Unperturbed Gwendal continued. "Houloie is next nearest village to Jade Peak. Trade has been ceased at the moment between the two villages due to difficult road conditions. I would implore Your Majesty to sign off on a Royal Decree forbidding trade between Jade Peak and any other villages in our realm or overseas." He paused briefly. "Furthermore, you should also to consider forbidding the people of Jade Peak from leaving or entering any other village."

"I understand why you would want to do that, but have you thought about how the people of Jade Peak are going to manage?" Yuuri challenged the man.

Gwendal raised his eyebrow, trying not to look offended. _I've done this longer than you, and off course I have._

"They are frightened." Gwendal stated simply. "But we cannot allow then to roam and trade as they please, not until we develop an effective management system."

"He's right Yuuri." Said Wolfram from across the table. "Plus there could be more people infected than we know about."

"This is all so much." Yuuri spoke softly, a complete turn from his tone of voice from less than two minutes ago. "This is like we're abandoning them."

"But you are not Yuuri." Conrad insisted.

"It must be done Your Majesty." Günter said woefully.

Greta looked at Yuuri meekly and offered him a small sad smile when their eyes met.

"We don't have any other choice, the people at Jade Peak were probably expecting this as well." Added Murata.

Wolfram on the other hand looked at Yuuri blankly, his green eyes seemed to be glazed over. _I wonder what he is thinking? What should I do Wolfram?_

"We are here to advise you Your Majesty." Anissina spoke frankly after no one had anything in over a minute, there was no trace of sympathy in her voice, though Yuuri suspected she was just as affected as everyone else. "I think it would also be a good idea if we prevent anyone from docking at Jade Peak Village; sailors, traveling merchants, any visitors from overseas, I could ask my family to spare a few ships to surround the waters there to ensure this."

Gwendal nodded at the woman with a look almost akin to gratitude.

"What we need to do is section off Jade Peak, no trade, and no one goes in or out without permission of the King, and place guards to make sure that this is kept in force. In conjunction, the people of Jade Peak will not be able to leave, nor no outsiders enter." Murata said carefully, knowing his friend wasn't comfortable with this idea.

"So we're basically cutting them off and leaving them to die?" Yuuri knew he sounded sulky, but he couldn't help it. He didn't like this.

"No, we are isolating them, but we will need to support Jade Peak completely in vital resources, the village will essentially be living in a bubble." The other black haired man answered.

"So how do we go about this Murata?"

After a moment's pause, the spectacled man spoke. "We need to prepare for the worst, and our timing must be perfect; first we will have to summon the ten noble houses."

"They'll be coming for Greta's birthday." Yuuri said, sounding a little unsure.

"Yes, but we need to meet them before that to explain the current situation in detail, undoubtedly Lady von Rochfort will already be aware of the situation since Jade Peak falls in her territory."

Yuuri, took a moment to glance at Greta who looked back at him seriously, Wolfram watching the exchange looked away with his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Then it's settled, I will send letters out tonight for all the heads of the ten noble houses asking them to leave as soon as possible, we shall convene prior to Greta's birthday to discuss the situation in more detail." Said Gwendal. _I just hope those bastards will take this seriously._ He paused thoughtfully looking directly at Yuuri. "Most of all we need their co-operation and enforcement to make this work."

Günter nodded in agreement.

Murata smirked. "Do you see why you are needed here now Shibuya? You must get the noble houses to agree, if we are to come up a cure and are to produce vaccinations on a grand scale; we may even need to raise taxes to generate more money." He looked at his King seriously. "Or else once this is over, provided we are all still alive, the Crown will have an enormous debt and that can't possibly lead to anything good."

As if recalling some unpleasant incident from his past, he added in a much more unforgiving voice; "Not only for that reason, there may be people that panic, people who don't believe this disease or think it's some kind of conspiracy, people that may refuse to pay taxes, people that may riot in protest." He gave in and sighed audibly. "In short I cannot emphasize enough why you are needed here."

"Assuming the worst is the best way to prepare." Anissina said confidently.

"On the bright side, dare I say we have everything under control…at the moment." The Sage said tentatively.

The King looked at him slightly puzzled. "Oh? What do you mean Murata?"

The Sage peered at his friend across the table, propping his chin forward with his two index fingers. "The outbreak is contained within Jade Peak, in the village itself, only the people in the south have become infected, on top of that we know how it's spread so precautions can be taken to reduce the rate and chance of transmission."

"But how long will this last?" Conrad asked, not expecting an answer.

"Not to mention we are speaking in theory over here." Anissina said in support of the Sage. "Only six people have died and supposedly fifteen have become infected. There's a chance this disease won't spread beyond Jade Peak, it's unlikely yes…" She frowned looking both thoughtful and annoyed. "But we're speaking as though we are facing the apocalypse."

"Six too many." Yuuri said sharply.

"Of course, I meant no disrespect Your Majesty." Said Anissina quickly. "I think it is important we have this discussion and prepare for the worst, but we don't even know if this disease will turn out to be an epidemic."

"What are you saying Anissina?" Asked Günter cautiously.

"Nothing in particular, I am simply making a point." She replied.

Everyone pondered this briefly. Anissina did have a point but no one was quite ready to believe her.

 _Could this disease really turn out to be a fluke?_ Yuuri desperately wanted to believe it, but the sour feeling in his gut wouldn't let up.

Gwendal cleared his throat so as to gather everyone's attention. "We need to inform the people of the realm of situation in a calm way so as to keep everything controlled; I would say several days after Princess Greta's birthday." Gwendal vaguely noted that the meeting had taken on a repetitive turn, no one seemed to mind though, as if saying what need to be done over and over again solidified the action plan.

"Alright." Yuuri quickly agreed, seemingly wanting to say more. "Speaking of informing people, Gwendal." He looked at the man straight in the eye and spoke with confidence. "The guards that you plan to place at Jade Peak to isolate the village, I want them to be fully made aware of the risks and consequences, and only send them if they have given their informed consent."

"But of course Your Majesty, I will see to it." Gwendal offered a small nod as a sign of respect to the King's decision.

As an afterthought he added looking directly at the red haired woman. "Anissina, this applies to the people on that will be on the ships your family deploy."

The inventor smiled lightly at her King.

"With your permission, there is something else I would like for us to do." Said Gwendal, drawing the King's attention to him once more.

"What else?" Yuuri asked hesitantly.

"I would like to call for the distribution of the dyed and Vollny treated rice paper to Jade Peak, also to Houloie and the next nearest village."

"The what?" Yuuri drew up blank.

Murata wanted to slap him. _I suppose it's not his fault since we didn't explain in detail how to test for the disease._ "Shibuya, it's the paper that once dipped in blood will identify whether someone has Widow's Cry or not."

"Oh." Understanding grew across the young King's face, he turned to the commander. "That's a good idea Gwendal, everyone who is headed towards Jade Peak should be issued some."

"Yes that would be a wise course of action, but it may alarm the nearby villages." Conrad added.

"It can't be helped." Gwendal dismissed, then seemed to ponder on it a little longer. "It will have to be done in diplomatic way."

 _I am not sure how that's possible._ Thought Wolfram internally, though he imagined he wasn't the only one thinking that.

A pregnant silence filled the room, Anissina was determined to break it. "Anyway, I will talk to Gisela, it would be a good idea to introduce a regular screening programme whilst I work on an alternative to the chemically treated paper."

This time the inventor looked directly at Gwendal. "Of course I won't be able to get started with the real work until our men bring back the sealed samples you mentioned earlier."

Gwendal simply stared back at her intensely and watched her bright blue eyes move left to right as she skimmed through the folder he handed to her at the beginning.

"It's flimsy." She started. "Distributing the dyed and Vollny treated rice paper pre-prepared is a good idea, however, over a few days the efficacy of the detection method decreases as the formed reagents on the paper start to break down."

"We could provide the people with the raw ingredients and they could produce the thing themselves." Said Wolfram defiantly.

Yuuri looked at Anissina with expectant wide eyes.

"Yes, but there's the chance people will not prepare the paper properly, thus giving rise to the possibility of false negative results." Supplied Murata, before Ansinna had a chance to answer, she bobbed her head up and down as if to agree with his statement.

Yuuri and Greta looked especially disappointed at the news.

"In the meantime however it's all we have." Gwendal said with a note of finality in his voice.

Günter folded his arms appearing to be in deep thought. "It would be prudent to gather the necessary ingredients now so they will be available on demand if and when needed."

No one said anything after that, everyone appeared to be deep in thought, trying to register everything that had to be done, the moment of quiet was broken by the Princess.

"Erm, it feels kind of inappropriate to celebrate my birthday now, with so much going on that is…" She started awkwardly.

"I disagree, a happy birthday celebration is just what we need. We must keep the people in high spirits, emphasize unity, and it will help to increase the sense of patriotism among our people." The Sage stated. "Furthermore Greta's birthday ball is a convenient means to gather the heads of the ten noble houses without arousing suspicion."

Wolfram narrowed his eyes at the Sage with while Yuuri glared at him fiercely with ill-concealed displeasure. _Nice going Murata, you didn't have to put it like that._

The Sage deliberately focused his undivided attention on the youngest member at the table in hopes of making her feel like an integral part of their action plan. "They should already be making preparations to come here anyway, we simply need to inform them to pick up the pace a bit."

Greta resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze. "Are you really sure?" She asked almost timidly, she stared down at her clenched fists resting on her lap. _I don't want it to happen like this._

It was clear to everyone she didn't want to go through with this charade. Over the past few weeks, at the mention of her birthday, Greta's eyes would practically light up with excitement and anticipation, now she just looked worried and uncomfortable.

"Murata." Said Yuuri in a dangerously low voice, with unmistakable undertone full of warning.

If Murata had heard him, he didn't show it.

"Yes for the reasons I just stated, and more; suddenly cancelling your birthday ball would only upset a lot of people and make them suspicious." The Sage explained. "Think of all the people that have already begun making preparations, their efforts would be in vain and their festive spirit ruined."

He smiled at her encouragingly. "Why they are already selling Greta shaped cookies in town, they are quite the treat."

"Yes! I've heard they are very popular." Günter chimed in trying to lighten the mood.

But it wasn't well received, the princess still looked just as depressed, and Anissinna frowned deeply in disapproval, not bothering to hide her obvious distaste at what was happening here.

"You are doing this Kingdom a great service by just going out there and having a good time." The Sage tried again.

"Oh, okay, if you say so." Greta said uncertainly, trying to hide her obvious disappointment at his words. _How could I possibly go out and pretend to be happy when I know for a fact there are people dying from a horrible disease. How can I possibly get into the festive mood when I know that there is another girl grieving for her lost brother, probably afraid and confused?_

But her mind was instantly made up when she took note of the way her father was looking at the Sage, and seeing as that he was about to say something that surely couldn't be anything good, she spoke quickly. "I'll do it!"

Yuuri turned to the girl surprised.

 _I just don't want you to get angry again papa._

Greta forced the edges of her lips to pull upwards. "I'd be happy to help this Kingdom in any way I can."

"Greta listen." Yuuri started.

"No, he's right papa." She looked into her father's big black eyes. "Besides it would be a shame to let the dress I'm having especially made go to waste, we spent hours picking out the material yesterday, remember?" She tried to say as casually as she could.

"Yes, but-" Yuuri tried to speak again, only to be cut off.

"I want to do this." She said determinedly, but her father wasn't swayed.

"I'd be happy to this." Greta tried again. "I've been looking forward to my birthday for ages anyway." She smiled at Yuuri who looked back at her wretchedly.

The sage merely observed the wooden play that was unfolding before in approval, but couldn't help but feel mildly dejected.

Whereas Wolfram on the other hand looked on feeling exceptionally exasperated, there was so much that he wanted to say but at the same time he felt like his tongue had been tied, he was sympathetic, angry, disgusted and frustrated all at once. _Greta._

It was then, that for the first time since entering the room, Wolfram noticed his eldest brother watching him intently and with purpose.

 _Damn you Gwendal._

The warning was clear in his eyes and Wolfram practically growled under his breath.

 _It's a no win situation either way._ Greta thought dismally, her insides clenched with guilt. She felt guilty for celebrating her birthday whilst there were people suffering and dying. But she felt guilty for wanting to call everything off and wasting all the effort and time that had gone into the preparation of the event already. The princess recalled how excited everyone had been when she had gone into town yesterday, children laughing, the sweet smell of freshly baked goods in the air, and the way people seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves as they ate those cookies. Greta swallowed in the sigh that was begging to escape her lips.

It certainly wasn't the biggest issue at hand, in fact it wasn't really a problem at all but Gwendal couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl as he saw her trying her best to look falsely impassioned. He couldn't deny the convenience of having a birthday ball around the corner, it was a clever ploy, but he didn't quite have the heart to bring himself to agree verbally, he'd always had a soft spot for the Greta after all.

"We shall conclude for now." He said instead, standing up with an air of finality.

And just like that everyone, started to go about their own business. Gwendal left the large brown table in favour of his smaller, more personal wooden desk on the other side of the room by the tall windows.

Anissina was the first to get up and leave the room, she strode out with purpose, determined to get started on her analysis.

Greta's eyes lingered anxiously on her father, she looked like she wanted to say something, but Günter ushered her out, claiming something about how her studies shouldn't stop even if there was a terrifying disease at large.

Wolfram watched the girl as she was swept out, he couldn't help but feel a pang of pain and jealousy as her eyes were solely trained on Yuuri. _I am here for you too, I hope you know that._ He was already in a bad mood following his trip to the Butterfly Chase and the news of this ancient disease, but now he had every intention to go away brood.

"Your Majesty, if you'll excuse me for a moment." Conrad stated, even though the King was not watching, the man bowed lightly and exited with several long strides.

Wolfram thought it was unusual for his brother to leave Yuuri. _He's probably gone to find Yozak, or that Jaecar Karlyn person._

Yuuri only barely acknowledge his godfather leave, he wanted to apologize to the man for unfairly yelling at him earlier. But the young King was preoccupied, his eyes following the lithe form of the sage as the man slipped through the grand towering office doors. Yuuri willed his heavy legs to bear his weight as he forced himself up, he stalked after the man with a dark expression on his face.

 _How dare he_.

* * *

 **A/N:** There you have it!

Sorry it's been so long, I made this chapter extra long as a bonus!

 **It's been a while since I've come back to this story so if you do notice any inconsistencies with the things mentioned in the previous chapters, do point it out to me and I will edit this asap.**

 **This whole chapter was basically one long conversation, but it was necessary to get some of the details out the way.**

I didn't want to bring the disease up this soon in the story but I'm a little impatient and kind of just want to dive right into it.

When narrating Conrad he will be referred to as "Conrad" because that's how Yuuri refers to him. But others; namely demons will refer to Conrad as "Conrart" since that is officially his name. I think I've also come up with like four different ways to spell "Anissina", sorry guys, but you know who I am talking about and what I am trying to spell. ahahhah =)

As always, please excuse my bad grammar/spelling errors.

More on Wolfram's thoughts on the meeting and Yuuri to come in later chapters!

Hope you liked it.


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